Perhaps joe should read:

http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/peracetic.chromic.html

The end results from the effort applied 

PIHKAL - MDMA #109, pg 320, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylacetone.

To a well stirred solution of 34 g of 30% hydrogen peroxide in 150 g 80% formic acid there was added, dropwise, a solution of 32.4 g isosafrole in 120 mL acetone at a rate that kept the reaction mixture from exceeding 40 C. This required a bit over 1 h, and external cooling was used as necessary. Stirring was continued for 16 h, and care was taken that the slow exothermic reaction did not cause excess heating. An external bath with running water worked well. During this time the solution progressed from an orange color to a deep red. All volatile components were removed under vacuum which yielded some 60 g of a very deep red residue. This was dissolved in 60 mL of MeOH, treated with 360 mL of 15% H2SO4, and heated for 3 h on the steam bath. After cooling, the reaction mixture was extracted with 375 mL EtO2, the pooled extracts washed first with H2O and then with dilute NaOH, and the solvent removed under vacuum The residue was distilled (at 2.0 mm/108-112 C, or at about 160 C at the water pump) to provide 20.6 g of 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylacetone as a pale yellow oil. The oxime (from hydroxylamine) had a mp of 85-88 C. The semicarbazone had a mp of 162-163 C.

The primary reason for pointing out Chromic's old post from the Hive was that even then when sassafrass oil was easily available in two hundred liter drums that he tried the reactions with far cheaper anethole first     Nowadays after the New World Order Gestapo have made obtaining such things almost impossible, one might want to employ the same methods since it's easily done as opposed to wasting almost priceless precursors    There are numerous articles that you would find helpful on Rhodium, one that isn't:

A Modified Peracid Process for Making Epoxy Compounds from Unsaturated Fatty Acid Esters

Ralph J. Gall , Frank P. Greenspan
Ind. Eng. Chem., 1955, 47 (1), pp 147–148
DOI: 10.1021/ie50541a045
Publication Date: January 1955

is attached   The end results from the effort applied 

Thanks WizX!  Which goes back to my question regarding formic acid.  Do bees/wasps source this or synth it?  unless a good source/synth is found, joe is pretty set on the peracetic route.  Once the first batch of product is obtained, joe wants to play with other routes (mainly the buffered performic and jon's route through bromosafrole).  i will post joe's progress/hangups/results throughout the processes.  If problems occur, i'm sure that you all will help joe.  Thanks go out to Lugh and Wizx for all yer help.  Joe is certain that succeas is within sight.

If you can't source Formic acid (also called methanoic acid)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formic_acid#Uses  which is very unlikely, then synthesis is easy.

In the laboratory, formic acid can be obtained by heating oxalic acid in glycerol and extraction by steam distillation.[10] Glycerol acts as a catalyst, as the reaction proceeds through a glyceryl oxalate intermediary. If the reaction mixture is heated to higher temperatures, allyl alcohol results. The net reaction is thus: C2O4H2 => CO2H2 + CO2

OR...

Hydrolysis of the methyl formate produces formic acid:

HCO2CH3 + H2O => HCO2H + CH3OH

Got the formic under control now.  Waiting on sassy to stop by.  The waiting is the hardest part......

If youre working small scale MM's Al/Hg Redeuction is good to use along with KzR's oxidation. Im not sure where you are but easy as hell to source everything needed in the US

%1

Quote

First time MDMA synth..........advice?

Don't, because that would be illegal.

Nahh all good, go ahead bro. REALLY