I know a little about chemistry ... Maybe i should try and be clearer and explain for the mentally challenged.....
I have spent several years researching reported impurities in MDMA, working out the various retrosynthetic routes that explain how these are produced. I suggest there are less mentally challenged people on this board than you might think, including some you are replying to
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
Cooks TRY and get EXACT ingredients to manufacture MDMA but because of not having access to the CORRECT ingredients they use other chems & you end up with MDXX !!!! Also not all cooks know exactly what they are doing.
Relatively pure MDMA
can be produced by using a natural source of starting material and Over the Counter type ingredients.
I agree that many cooks would not know everything about the synths they are performing. But in order to make MDMA, a person would need some basic chem knowledge. While it's relatively speaking more difficult than a meth synth from ephedrine, it would certainly not be hard for anyone with basic knowledge of organic chemistry techniques, particularly if the person was to follow a procedure that has had years of online comments posted regarding the various steps and problems faced etc. Second and third year Org chem involve procedures far more complex and tricky than those required for most PEA and amphetamine synths.
Whether a final "released" product is pure or not comes down to the ability of, and - most importantly - the
intent of the chemist.
While a very small amount of MDA is usually produced via side reactions when MDMA is synthesised via the common routes, this also occurs when reagent grade reactants/reagents are used, and so is not only confined to "shitty" OTC synths.
MDEA and MDOH are
not noted impurities associated with conventional syntheses. MDEA would be produced if ethylamine was used, or if it was an impurity in methylamine. However, this is not likely to happen even if MA was synthesised via any of the commonly known Over The Counter methods. Other N-alkylamines are more likely in the final product as these amines are noted impurities in commercially sourced, reagent grade MA. These are not likely to be very psychoactive active if at all. If they were, in the quantities expected, they would hardly be thought to contribute anything to the experience.
MDOH would not be expected to be produced unless the synth was via an oxime or similar route (as an impurity, MDOH is less commonly noted in forensic literature).
However, many other impurities are produced with a typical synth. These should - if the synth was properly done - only be present in relatively small amounts (trace levels, < 1% ).
One big concern is any appreciable amount of iso/ safrole that may be present during reductive amination. This would produce dihydrosafrole in the final product - a nasty, liver damaging carcinogen. But, and this is important to note, such impurities can also be present in
any MDMA not properly prepared, including overseas made stuff, even product made in clean pharmaceutical type environments. If the ketone is not distilled, or an adduct made, iso/ safrole is sure to be present in the ketone.
Have you ever seen an accredited Quality Assurance rating for any MDMA or pills you've taken? Until each pill is supplied with such, or better still, a GC/MS spectra like that provided with bulk pharmaceuticals, then you can never really know what damage even a supposedly clean pill might be doing. But perhaps you will in 30 years?
I would suggest that Erowid, while a valuable resource in Harm Reduction, is -by itself - not the place to get an education in chemistry.
