3 ms·
I'm curious about the chemistry here (though I have very little chemistry background), so, bearing in mind that I have zero interest in producing methamphetamin
by _a_a_a_ 3y ago
I'm curious about the chemistry here (though I have very little chemistry background), so, bearing in mind that I have zero interest in producing methamphetamine, perhaps you can elaborate a little:
– I can't see how Phenylacetone can have chirality
– I don't understand how any enantiomer of P2P (if one exists, see above) can be selected for specifically via a chemical reaction, especially here with tartaric acid, which is a chiral molecule itself, so surely you would need a specific enantiomer of tartaric acid to start with?
I'm sure these are basic questions, I'm just a dabbler. Any links welcome, no problem if this is out of place for HN.TIA
- cyberax 3y agoP2P doesn't have chirality, but methamphetamine does. Any carbon atom with 4 different groups attached to it will always be chiral, in meth it's the carbon next to the nitrogen. It has: methyl group, phenol group, hydrogen, and the amino group. > – I don't understand how any enantiomer of P2P (if one exists, see above) can be selected for specifically via a chemical reaction You just react P2P and get a racemic mix of L- and D- enantiomers of meth. Then you react it with tartaric acid, which will preferentially react with the "right" meth. > tartaric acid, which is a chiral molecule itself Ah, I see the confusion. Tartaric acid derived from biological sources consists of just one enantiomer, that's why you can use it to do chiral resolution.
- _a_a_a_ 3y agoThanks, very informative!