Jagube
Esteemed member
I'm attempting a DHH->THH reduction for a second time. Since I have HCl now, I thought I'd dissolve my DHH freebase in that instead of vinegar.
I put 7g of DHH in a glass, added 200ml of water and around 10ml of 36-38% HCl.
It took a lot of stirring and heating to dissolve the harmalas, so I thought there wasn't enough HCl in it, but when I checked the pH using a pH pen, it turned out to be very acidic (pH 1.0). I thought it would be much higher as with vinegar. Also my teaspoon developed stains from just stirring the solution for a few seconds.
I'm assuming it's not a good thing for the pH to be that low: not good for the reduction, the subsequent basification and possibly for the alks themselves. Or is it ok?
Should I try to raise the pH somehow, or just let the HCl evaporate over time? How long does it take for it to evaporate and what pH should I aim for before adding the zinc? Once that pH is reached, should I still add vinegar, or will the HCl work as well as a reducing agent along with the zinc?
I put 7g of DHH in a glass, added 200ml of water and around 10ml of 36-38% HCl.
It took a lot of stirring and heating to dissolve the harmalas, so I thought there wasn't enough HCl in it, but when I checked the pH using a pH pen, it turned out to be very acidic (pH 1.0). I thought it would be much higher as with vinegar. Also my teaspoon developed stains from just stirring the solution for a few seconds.
I'm assuming it's not a good thing for the pH to be that low: not good for the reduction, the subsequent basification and possibly for the alks themselves. Or is it ok?
Should I try to raise the pH somehow, or just let the HCl evaporate over time? How long does it take for it to evaporate and what pH should I aim for before adding the zinc? Once that pH is reached, should I still add vinegar, or will the HCl work as well as a reducing agent along with the zinc?