The DMT required distillation and recrystallization to obtain pure product. Distillation would be set up on the laboratory lattice (Figure 4.6) and 1 or 2 kg would be processed at a time. A kilogram of DMT dissolved in 2L ether would recrystallize when added to 8L hexane. Rhomboid crystals would spontaneously form in the mother liquor.
Am I the only person who thinks the section i highlighted in bold is puzzling? why does it say that distillation was done in a laboratory lattice, big fuckin deal, so what if it was a lattice or a series of retort stands instead?
hmmm one good piece of info there though - i saw this quoted somewhere before, about the ether/hexane recrystallisation method - Would the same thing happen in DCM or other chlorinated solvent (since they're similar to ether in terms of their selectivity and high solvation power with these amines)? It would be nice to establish a simple and effective method of getting the dmt fb out of the nonpolar without evaporating it off or flash distilling (i want a method that requires no heat)... What is the solvents that dmt is most and least soluble in, preferably selected from a list of relatively OTC solvent sources (requiring nothing more than fractional distillation at the most to render usable) - ok here's my list: ligroin, n-hexane, dcm, tce, toluene, xylene, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, mek... i'm sure there's more but i can't think of any just now.