My finger joints all stiff and sore at the moment.
'I2 crowd-sourced community meth lab anyone?
Easy enough an art to learn, especially if just beginning, red phosphorus/iodine reduction of pseudo/ephedrine is the best known, as is the Birch-benckiser reduction (AKA the 'nazi method', using the solvated electron 'electride's generated by dissolving lithium metal in anhydrous liquid ammonia) is widely used in the US due to the availability of anhydrous NH3 due to its use as a fertilizer by farmers, dangerous though if one has no chemistry experience, due to the fumes, corrosive properties of ammonia, and the need to handle a cryogenic liquified gas)
No experience with phosphorus acid/hypophosphorus acid-iodine reductions,
Favourite route to amphetamines though has to be condensation of benzaldehyde and nitroethane, catalyzed by a base (TETA, triethylenetetramine has so far given lovely results), that gives an intermediate beta-nitrostyrene or beta-nitropropene depending on if the nitroalkane reagent be nitromethane or nitroethane to give phenethylamines and amphetamines respectively. Very quick route too, a couple of hours work to start from nitroalkane+(substituted) benzaldehyde, about 2 hours IIRC, is what it took whilst working on 2C-D (2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenethylamine), reduction times vary with the method used, lithium aluminium hydride is clean and very reliable, fast, but does have the disadvantage that LiAlH4 isn't particularly friendly stuff, it likes to burst into flame on contact with air/atmospheric moisture, glassware needs to be oven-dried immediately before use, the release of lots of hydrogen gas when the finished reaction has gone to completion and needs quenching with water, slowly and carefully.
Aluminium amalgam reduction works for nitrostyrenes, but for some reason apparently not upon nitropropenes.
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But all in all, it is a great route IMO, I could teach the basics of it in about half an hour probably, although having nobody to learn from I tought myself. I like that the the nitrostyrene/nitropropenes produced in this way are insoluble in water, and methanol so that simplifies actually obtaining one's target from the solvents and synthesis reagents used, the 2C-D nitrostyrene I'm thinking of just crashes out of solution as orange to yellow crystalline needles or flakes, needs a quick wash but thats about it.
Produces ordinary amphetamine/substituted amphetamines though rather than N-methylamphetamines, not too much of a problem though, all in all, probably the method I'd recommend for anybody who's just starting out getting into the hobby.
