i really like adopting new hobbies to explore unfamiliar areas of life and science. be it mushroom cultivation, brewing beer, doing stuff on my car, bike repair. but clandestine chemistry and synthesizing lsd is my ultimate basement model railroad layout ... so far my pinnacle of chemical experiences are some rather simple extractions - it's great fun to take somethings and turn them into something else. but i'd have to dabble for years in organic chemistry to even understand what it takes to make lsd. but that would be so amazing.
> LSD chemists must be extremely careful in working with ergot because of its toxicity. Remember the people poisoned by rye bread in the Middle Ages? Once the chemist obtains the fungus, he has to carefully and precisely culture it to extract the ergot alkaloids (an alkaloid is a compound containing basic nitrogen atoms). The darkroom setup becomes necessary here, because the fungus will decompose under bright lights. In fact, LSD itself may break down quickly when exposed to light.
> If working with toxic ergot weren't hazardous enough, the solvents and reagents (compounds used to bring about chemical reactions) are also incredibly dangerous. The solvent anhydrous hydrazine, for example, may explode when heated. It's extremely poisonous and carcinogenic (meaning it can cause cancer). Another chemical often used in the process, chloroform, can also trigger cancer, in addition to damaging the kidneys and liver. Both substances are easily absorbed through the skin or inhaled.
I don't know what your living situation is, but I would ask you to have a little bit of consideration for your own well-being and that of your neighbors. I have witnessed significant permanent damage to living spaces, not to mention the humans within them, from petty criminals who thought it'd be a good idea to run a meth lab in an apartment.
The toxic byproducts get into everything. You will make mistakes, and you will probably quickly kill yourself, if you aren't arrested first. If your neighbors are fortunate, the nature of your clandestine chemistry experiment will be found out, and remediated before too many people suffer permanent harm.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 19.6 ms ] thread> If working with toxic ergot weren't hazardous enough, the solvents and reagents (compounds used to bring about chemical reactions) are also incredibly dangerous. The solvent anhydrous hydrazine, for example, may explode when heated. It's extremely poisonous and carcinogenic (meaning it can cause cancer). Another chemical often used in the process, chloroform, can also trigger cancer, in addition to damaging the kidneys and liver. Both substances are easily absorbed through the skin or inhaled.
I don't know what your living situation is, but I would ask you to have a little bit of consideration for your own well-being and that of your neighbors. I have witnessed significant permanent damage to living spaces, not to mention the humans within them, from petty criminals who thought it'd be a good idea to run a meth lab in an apartment.
The toxic byproducts get into everything. You will make mistakes, and you will probably quickly kill yourself, if you aren't arrested first. If your neighbors are fortunate, the nature of your clandestine chemistry experiment will be found out, and remediated before too many people suffer permanent harm.
I suggest sticking to beer.