Thanks! That sounds just right.
How is it again one makes 2,5-hydroxybenzoic acid from hydroquinone? I seem to recall it can be rather simple?
This might not be so impractical. Besides, if one gets this down pat, one can use the exact same setup of reduction to reduce a nitrostyrene to the phenethylamine in excellent yield (divided cell; lead cathode; dil sulfuric acid+ethanol catholyte), like in the Slotta & Szyszka article on mescaline mentioned often on the Hive.
All one needs is good quality lead (or mercury, if you prefer), a calculator, power, an ampmeter, and time.
Damn, this sounds so simple, the required extra step for turning the benzyl alcohol into the benzaldehyde seems almost blasphemous to the simplicity which would consist of the need for only hydroquinone, nitromethane and electrolytic reduction.
Edit:
Hey, wouldn't this be a riot?:
1. Electrolytically oxidize salicylic acid to "benzoquinone carboxylic acid" (or whatever)
2a. Electrolytically reduce to 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid.
2b. Electrolytically reduce to 2,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol.
3. Electrolytically oxidize to 2,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde.
4. Etherify with methanol and catalytic arenesulfonic acid to 2,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde.
5. Condense with nitromethane to 2,5-dimethoxynitrostyrene.
6. Electrolytically reduce to 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine.
If only... Okay, the 3. step is a bit suspicious, especially since won't this yield formylbenzoquinone if anything? I guess DMSO-oxidation might be more useful, as mentioned on rhodium.ws. Still, I am allowed to dream...