0:00:03 Introduction & Goal: The video details the synthesis of three novel, unregulated, and largely unexplored beta-methyl tryptamine analogues, bypassing legal restrictions on DMT. The first target molecule is named BMDMT (beta-methyl dimethyltryptamine).
0:00:30 Legal Status & Motivation: Beta-methyl tryptamines are noted as unregulated under German law. The synthesis is driven by scientific curiosity and the growing therapeutic interest in psychedelics for conditions like depression.
0:00:58 Novelty: The creator highlights that famed psychedelic chemist Alexander Shulgin did not synthesize beta-methyl tryptamines, and two of the target compounds lack literature references, representing exploration into new chemical territory.
0:01:24 Step 1: Henry Reaction: Synthesis begins with 3-acetylindole and nitromethane, catalyzed by ethylene diamine in isopropanol, heated in a triethylene glycol bath. This forms the nitroalkene intermediate.
0:03:04 Step 1 Isolation & Yield: The yellow, needle-like nitroalkene product crystallizes upon cooling. Initial yield is 11.7g (58%), with an additional 2.1g (10%) recovered from the filtrate after adding water and waiting.
0:03:53 Step 2: Hydrogenation: 10g of the nitroalkene is hydrogenated in THF using Palladium on Carbon (Pd/C) catalyst under 6 atmospheres of hydrogen pressure for 10 hours. The goal is to reduce the double bond and nitro group to form the primary amine, beta-methyl tryptamine.
0:05:05 Step 2 Work-up & Issues: The reaction mixture turns clear, indicating completion. Filtration issues required redissolving solid in warm THF. Rotary evaporation under vacuum led to violent boiling and some product loss, solved with an anti-bumping bulb.
0:06:06 Step 2 Crude Product & Purification: Crude product yield is ~9g (over 100%, indicating impurities/solvent) with an unexpected chlorine smell (suspected contamination). Recrystallization from ethanol under argon yields 6.7g of purified beta-methyl tryptamine (stated as 78% yield, likely referring to the recrystallization step itself), successfully removing the odor.
0:07:47 Step 3: Alkylation Strategy: The plan is to convert the beta-methyl tryptamine into three derivatives (BM-DMT, BM-DET, BM-DiPT) using mesylate esters, chosen over alkyl halides to avoid forming inactive quaternary ammonium salts.
0:08:40 Alkylation Attempt 1 (Failure): An initial attempt using pyridine as the base and chloroform as the solvent failed because the mesyl chloride was added incorrectly, reacting with the amine before the alcohol.
0:10:20 Alkylation Attempt 2 (Success): Parameters were changed: triethylamine (stronger base) and acetonitrile (better solvent). Mesyl chloride was reacted first with the respective alcohols (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol) and triethylamine to form the mesylate esters in situ, before adding the beta-methyl tryptamine (250mg per reaction). The reaction mixtures were heated at 75Β°C for two days.
Products (freebase) extracted into DCM from an aqueous quench.
DCM dried using a magnesium sulfate plug.
Amines extracted from DCM into aqueous hydrobromic acid (HBr) to remove impurities.
0:13:41 Acid Choice Issue: Using HBr instead of HCl proved problematic, being harder to remove and causing a red discoloration of the residual oil after evaporation.
0:15:18 Final Purification: The resulting hydrobromide salts were purified by washing/triturating with cold acetone, followed by diethyl ether, then dried under vacuum.
0:16:06 Final Products & Yields: The three target beta-methyl tryptamines were successfully synthesized and isolated as hydrobromide (HBr) salts:
Beta-methyl DMT HBr: 281 mg
Beta-methyl DET HBr: 120 mg (yield noted as low)
Beta-methyl DiPT HBr: 385 mg
0:17:03 Lessons Learned & Future Plans: The creator suggests using hydrochloric acid instead of hydrobromic acid and potentially potassium carbonate instead of triethylamine in future syntheses. Plans include further exploration of novel, legal tryptamines using nitroethane and 2-nitropropane, with some content potentially exclusive to Patreon supporters.