Synthesis of Amphetamine from P2NP

Amphetamine is one of the most popular psychostimulants on the black market and is considered a classic substance with minimal side effects. Over the course of this stimulant’s use, many synthesis techniques have been developed and used both in clandestine production and by the legal pharmaceutical industry. Here we will look at the synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP and try to obtain small amounts of this substance.

The whole process of synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP is as follows: Pour into a 1-liter flask:

• 8 grams of aluminum foil cut into isosceles triangles;
• P2NP; phenylnitropropene, 5 grams;
• IPA; isopropanol, 50 ml;
• acetic essence (80% acetic acid) 50 ml (dilution with glacial acetic acid is possible);
• HgCl2; mercuric (III) chloride, 30 mg.

If possible, put a cooler on the flask in reflux mode, i.e., vertically, and let the water flow through it; if you don’t have one, don’t put it.

After a few minutes after starting the process of synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP, our mixture begins to heat up, at which point we should stir everything since P2NP dissolves in warm solvents. When P2NP dissolves, place the flask or jar in a cold water bath. This is necessary because when the reaction starts, it all starts to get so hot that you can’t even hold the flask in your hand.

As we dip the flask or jar into the water, we control the reaction, and if we see that everything fits in the vessel, we take it out. In about 10 to 15 minutes, most of the phenylnitropene is already reduced, but we, want to increase the efficiency of our reaction and the whole synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP. Place our reaction vessel in a water bath and heat it to a temperature where the contents of the reaction vessel bubble. The reflux lasts about 45 minutes to an hour.

After this time, we are almost certain that all the P2NP have reacted. The color of the mixture at this stage can range from gray, putrid green to almost black. You will notice that most of the foil has been eaten away.

The next step in the synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP is alkalinization, which is the displacement of the free amphetamine base by bringing the mixture to an alkaline pH (10-12) with a sodium hydroxide solution. When alkalizing during the synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP, remember not to bring it to pH>12, as we will destroy the free base. 

When preparing the solution during this stage of synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP, it is a good idea to add ice cubes to the water and cool it down. This is needed due to the alkalizing process being highly exothermic, and if the temperature rises too high, we will ruin the whole synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP.

Aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (the proportions are like this, but it’s too much for 5 grams of P2NP).

• water 1 liter;
• NaOH 300 grams.

In portions, pour the NaOH solution into our dark gray mixture, stirring vigorously and trying not to let it boil. You should be constantly checking the pH value, which should be between 10 and 12. At some point, you will notice two layers forming. The top layer is usually orange or red, it depends on the quality of the reagents and is our amine in the form of a free base. We collect the top layer with a pipette/syringe and pour it into a clean vessel.

At this stage of synthesis of amphetamine from P2NP, we need to collect the residual amine from the bottom layer, i.e., what is left in the flask. We do it by extracting with toluene or extraction gasoline (it is important that the solvent is non-polar). That is, we pour our mixture into a plastic bottle, add 20 ml of toluene, close the bottle with a lid and whisk everything for a few minutes. We collect the top layer and pour it into a vessel, with a loose base. Pour 20 ml of toluene back into the bottle and do the same thing. What remains in the bottle after completing these manipulations is thrown away.

We rinse the bottle with toluene, or we take a second bottle and pour our extracts into it — all the free bases in toluene. We add 50 ml of distilled water and extract. Furthermore, we can make a hole in the stopper, plug it with our fingers, and turn the bottle upside down. We drain the bottom (aqueous) layer, and again wash the top layer with 50 ml of water and salt and again only 50 ml of water. After pre- cleaning our free base, we can still distill it, or we can start the desalting process right away, i.e. the free amphetamine base turns into, in our case, amphetamine sulfate.

So, here’s the deal: we need to make a solution of sulfuric acid in IPA at a ratio of 1:5→ 1 ml of acid and 5 ml of IPA. We drop the acid solution with a syringe into the free base solution in toluene drop by drop, stirring vigorously. You will notice that the orange solution will begin to turn progressively whiter and the amphetamine sulfate will begin to precipitate as a crystalline white precipitate. When the pH reaches about 7 (neutral), drain the precipitate under a vacuum into a Büchner funnel and rinse with cold acetone. If you don’t have a Büchner funnel, you can drain the precipitate through a coffee filter. In this way, we obtained about 3 g of amphetamine sulfate.