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Good introduction to psychedelic chemistry?

L

Letshavefun

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 7, 2014
Messages
26
Location
Guelph ON
Hey guys, I was wondering, how would one go about getting into psychedelic chemistry? I have noticed that many of you are extremely knowledgeable on the subject, do you have any recommendations? resources? I have been reading piHKAL and tiHKAL but they are beyond my level and I am finding them hard to understand. Thanks!
 
Begin learning about organic chemistry.
Psychedelic chemistry is a very narrow section of organic chemistry and the discussion normally conducted here also contains elements of pharmacodynamics.
 
Alright, I forgot to mention, I am still in high school! :p Any free on-line courses you would recommend? Literature? I am a fast learner when I am interested in something.
Just to clarify, this is not something I want to do just to "get high" I really feel that there is a lot to be learned from psychedelics.
 
Well it's generally not that easy of a topic to learn without formal education. I always would search questions which interested me, posted on forums like this one with questions, and my knowledge has grown significantly from when I was in high school, although I am no where near the level of many on this forum.
erowid.org does have chemistry information on many substances, although there I admit there isn't really an abundance of information regarding psychedelic chemistry specifically on the Internet.
Other forum members may have links to resources I don't know of though, they may be able to help you more
 
Alright! Thanks for your help... I'm going to sign out an organic chemistry textbook from school tomorrow and see what I can learn.
 
Chemistry isn't a required part of your schools curriculum in order to graduate? If you have even the slightest interest in chemistry or learning about psychoactives beyond face value then you really need to enroll in an entry level chemistry course to get your foot in the door.
After you learn the basics you can start to branch out a little further into your interests and start loaning text books from your local library. I commend you on showing interest, but be aware that it will take some time before you will be able to get into the SAR or anything relating to a compounds psychoactivity.
 
If I were you I would stick with chemistry in school and things will start to become apparent, there's a lot of background knowledge to learn and if you have the dedication you will learn eventually :) just keep reading things. I would say start with the organic chemistry textbook, and best of luck! If you have any questions feel free to inbox me as it was not long ago that I was in your position.
 
Before getting into organic chem I suggest you explore stereochemistry, stoichiometry, Ox-Reduc reactions, pH, etc to gain a solid foundation so you don't get confused later on down the road. You must have a solid grip over the basics before you go to far out.
 
My school only offers 2 grade 12 general chem courses :/ guess thats the price we pay for an amazing tech department! aha, I am taking grade 11 chem next semester and both grade 12 courses, but I am one to rush things...
 
Any introductory level/accelerated high school chemistry text book that would paired with a course of the same level.
If you are legitimately interested in truely understanding chemistry you will need to teach yourself the corresponding mathematics; a text book with guided algebra would be helpful.

Do you have any formal knowledge of the math involved? If you are in the US I can check to see if I can give you the online course codes that my college organic chem books came with.
 
For a vast majority of people, some formal education in chemistry is necessary. On the other hand, I am aware of at least one self taught chemist and have seen the fruits of their labor. Some people are very gifted.
 
I have moderate mathematical knowledge, and I am located in ontario, I am sure that I will need some formal training and I will certainly try my hardest to get it. Maybe find a mentor. Tomorrow I will sign out some text books from the school and the library, I have a lot of free time at the moment, so it shouldn't take me long to get through them.
Thanks again guys! :D
 
I'd did both grade 11 and grade 12 chemistry in grade 11 because it interested me so much but they're right, all you need is an introduction then learning on your own becomes easier.
A basic chemistry course lays out the foundation for which organic chemistry builds upon including bonding, resonance, and as said above, stereochemistry.
 
I have been trying to learn organic chemistry on my own. I am using 'Organic Chemistry' 7th Edition by McMurray, which I found as a free download along with a corresponding study-guide with answers. Also free on-line I have found the freshman Organic Chemistry lectures from Yale. There are a lot of free online resources.
I am finding Khan Academy to be a valuable resource.
 
I would have taken both grade 12 chems this year (I am grade 11) if I wasn't 4 credits behind.... Living on your own as a 16 year old has its downsides.
And thanks for the titles dreamboat!
 
Seems like this is already proving to be a helpful thread but if you want I can put this in the Neuro & Pharmacology / Advanced Drug Discussion forum where it is bound to be at least as fruitful?

Also entheo: how is stereochemistry a prerequisite? Seems to me you need to start with organic chemistry before you can start practising any stereochemistry? But if you mean make the basic stereochemistry concept an early checkpoint then I definitely agree!

High school chemistry is probably vital to start with, you need to learn about things like bonds before you can proceed to a field where ideas like that are assumed understood and integral.
 
Move it wherever you see fit! I am extremely satisfied with how active and helpful this community is! Thank you guys!
 
^ hey Solipsis- I was just referring to having a basic grip on the principals of stereochemistry as a bank of knowledge that is required to learn anything beyond the very basics.

Learn to balance equations: if you can't balance an equation chemistry will never be a viable academic persuit.
 
1. The Bluelight/Erowid community has compiled the "Erowid/Bluelight Neuropharmacology Text" right on this site (link).

2. Search for "Nelson & Cox Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry 5th edition 2008 pdf" on Google and you'll find a number of links for the free comprehensive college-level textbook.

3. Browse MIT's Open Courseware website for free online courses related to chemistry.

4. Trade a college student some pot for their login information and you can access their University's Library's network from home by proxy.

5. Register for public access to JStor. They made limited rate of access for the public a possibility after a guy named Aaron Swartz tragically killed himself after being arrested for illegally downloading journal articles from them. He believed free access to academic knowledge was a human rights issue. They disagreed. It was bad press.

6. Last but, emphatically, not least, learn to use your public library. If you know how to get the most out the public library system you can learn almost anything you can learn in a university and a hell of a lot more. If you're willing to use what you learn to do free work and prove yourself you can even get jobs without a degree. As convenient as the internet is it's actually not that great for learning because (esp. young) people associate it with instant gratification and simply don't seem to be able to read online without bouncing around skimming everything with shallow focus (see"TL;DR").

A persistent autodidact can easily learn endlessly in this day and age.
 
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