actually anisole is just methoxybenzene.
the precursor is anethole, which is 1-(p-methoxyphenyl)-2-propene. exactly analogous to safrole.
safrole is more dense than anethole (1.098 vs 0.988) and has a much higher boiling point (232 vs 80). the two are probably miscible but a mixture could be easily identified by determining its specific gravity (and probably smell, although anise smells like licorice too), and more importantly, easily separated by distillation.
the synthesis for PMA and MDMA is the same, but there are different materials. performing the MDMA synthesis on anethole yields PMMA, which confusingly a lot of people seem to be calling PMA. (PMA = p-hydroxyamphetamine, PMMA = p-hydroxyMETHamphetamine). synthesizing PMA is easier than PMMA because it doesn't need methylamine, but if people are really doing the synthesis on a mixture, they will get MDMA/PMMA.
ronald: PMA is probably not all that fun, it's mostly physical and that's why it's dangerous. it's probably discernible from an MDMA trip; even if it does release serotonin, it probably doesn't feel very similar.
on my comments being useless: no, MP is not the best way, but it will work here. you can do a microscale acid-base extraction in maybe 10-15 minutes, and a melting point takes maybe 5. it's not as fast as adding a drop of liquid, but it's faster than TLC for what it's worth, and very easy. if it was the only way you had, it would work.
thinking like a crackhead on this, it doesn't waste a pill, so it might be worth doing if you either have a lot or like shooting it up.
dealing with pma: hyperthermia can be treated; so can overdose. what you should do depends on your situation. even if you just ate 5 pills and they're pma, you should be ok if you seek treatment *quickly*. if it's only one, you might be ok anyway.. follow the usual MDMA precautions (cool area, lots of water), but *do not* dance.
TLC: Rf value plus Mandelin (NOT Marquis) reagent visualization is probably the best way to confirm. Rf values need to be calculated with the same solvents, so you'd need to find out what solvent to use. you have to measure very carefully and do the procedure correctly to get a good Rf. and some statistical analysis if you wanna be really sure=)
solvents: one abstract i found mentioned diethylamine, another used methanol/acetone, and acetic acid/ethyl acetate will probably work too. the methanol/acetone one was interesting because both are easily available but i think they were using napthoquinone derivatives.
relative polarity of MDMA, PMA and PMMA
this is important for TLC...
these are the polarities of MDMA, PMA and PMMA as determined by Crippen's fragmentation method (in chemdraw 6.0)..
octanol-water partition coefficients *for the free base*, log K_ow:
MDMA: 1.98±0.47
PMMA: 2.07±0.47
PMA: 1.55±0.47
literature value for PMA: 1.770 at pH 7
this is a big difference; remember it's a logarithmic scale. so TLC should separate them easily. likewise ephedrine, likewise methamphetamine.