spengler said:
does anyone know of any lab-tested explanation for how the chemistry behind this is supposed to work? I've seen this discussed on a couple serious chemistry boards lately, and the consensus is that the evidence for LSH being produced from acetaldehyde (and perhaps ethanol) isn't very good. The main problem is that the amide nitrogen on ergine would need to be a site of action, but since it is not the most nucleophilic site on the molecule it seems unlikely to react to the required degree. N-1, C-2 and c-3 would be more prone to reacting with acetaldehyde, none of which would yield LSH (some would yield salts, not sure about others.) However, this idea flies in the face of at least half the trip reports which seem to be positive and "more visual" than LSA.
I'd love to see this done in a lab with access to a GC/MS setup, but that's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Does anyone have any non-anecdotal information on this reaction? I'm not trying to say that it doesn't work, I have no idea; I'm just curious what the underlying chemistry is if it does work. The proposed explanations I've seen thus far have some issues, as stated above.
I think everyone would love to see that.
I do not to give too much weight to what the “chemists” posting on most of these kinds of forums have to say about this subject. Most of them are not good LSD chemists. Most are not even amateur LSD chemists. An LSD chemist is not likely to be posting in any of these forums for fear of being tracked by the DEA.
Chemistry is not as simple as people like to think it is. Sometimes things happen in a way that cannot easily be predicted.
For example, the whole “calcium bufotenate” debate. No one seems to agree on it. Some “chemists” on these kinds of forums say it’s possible, some “chemists” say it’s not, etc.
Even expert chemists will argue about reactions. Until there’s proof, it’s just a bunch of theory, so I wouldn’t pay too much mind to people talking about things they haven’t proven in actual laboratory tests.
For the test to be done right it needs volunteers who can tell the different between LSA and “LSH”. Because the formation of “LSH” does not always work, the end results must be tested by man to see if the “LSH” even formed before you even go analyzing it, or you may analyze a failed attempt and prove nothing.
Keep in mind that peppermint contains hundreds of compounds, not just acetaldehyde. A reaction of some sort is actually happening, but no one really knows if acetaldehyde is solely responsible for the reaction.
What’s interesting is that SWIM found the reaction either completely fails or is a complete success. There seems to usually be no middle ground. It’s like either all the LSA is converted to “LSH” or none is. There seems to be a threshold you need to get over, and once it's crossed the conversion is complete, and if the threshold is not crossed, nothing happens. It's not like 50% of the LSA converts, it's like either 100% or 0% converts. Anyway, that's how it seems to SWIM based on self bioessays. He’s almost never had it partially work. This indicates some pretty tricky chemistry is going on that might not be easily explained.