Dimethyltryptamine can be made both synthetically and extracted from various natural plant sources. The most common source is the root bark of
Mimosa Hostilis, a tree native to South America. Other genera/species known to contain DMT include many Acacia sp., Desmanthus illinoensis (Illinois bundleflower), Desmodium sp.,
Virola sp., Arundo donax (giant reed),
Phalaris sp. (canarygrasses) and Psychotria sp., especially Psychotria Vidris. It should be cautioned that many of these plant species also contain other alkaloids such as gramine,
nicotine, substituted amphetamines, bufotenine and other tryptamines which can be harmful or toxic.
The process of extracting DMT from these plants usually involves crushing the plant matter to a fine powder or liquid, using a non-polar solvent such as naphtha to de-fat the extract then doing an acid/base extraction to obtain the alkaloids from the extract. Purification is not always required to achieve a psychoactive effect but is recommended.
DMT can also be synthesized via a number of different routes. While the easiest routes seem to start from tryptophan, involving decarboxylation into tryptamine followed by N,N-dimethylation to N,N-dimethyltryptamine, this is problematic because the methylation step over-methylates to a N,N,N-trimethyltryptammonium salt. This can be reduced into DMT with either lots of heat/pressure (ref: Otto Snow) or with a strong reducing agent such as Lithium Aluminum Hydride. Methylation via Eschweiler-Clarke reaction involving formic acid/formaldehyde is also problematic because reaction of tryptamines with an aldehyde in acidic solution causes a Pictet-Spengler cyclization reaction to occur, instead creating tryptoline structures.
Other routes begin from indole itself, 3-indoleacetaldehyde, 3-indoleacetic acid, and aniline via formation of a phenylhydrazine. For more, check out the rhodium archives, Tihkal and Otto Snow's works, as well as the forums.
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