Yeah I know it has been hyped up, personally I don't think its that toxic either, since the compounds are also strong MAOIs it's thought to have a protective effect, and endogenous etc etc.

But thanks for linking me to those threads, I never read about it indepth.

Either way, you don't want em.

Alkaline or neutral is the way you want to go, the variables you are looking at are fast (selective) reduction of imine, inert or slow rxn with aldehyde (which may an issue with zinc and ch2o) and a speedy imine formation (slower in alkaline), these can all be controlled with temp, choice of reagents, solvent, and amount of water present. This can all be done OTC too, with a little care and attention to detail.

Though doing this stuff in water would be awesome, and green. Worth investigating.