STAGE 2
Arrange the lighting in the lab similarly to that of a dark room. Use photographic red and yellow safety lights, as lysergic
acid derivatives are decomposed when light is present. Rubber gloves must be worn due to the highly poisonous nature of ergot alkaloids. A hair drier, or, better, a flash evaporator, is necessary to speed up steps where evaporation is necessary.
METHOD 1
Step I. Use Yellow light
Reagants:
10g Ergotamine Tartrate
20ml Anhydrous Hydrazine
20ml dH2O
Equipment:
Round-bottom flask
Refluxing Apparatus
Conical flask (with stopper)
Ref*****rator
Heating Mantle
1. Add 10g of powdered ergot alkaloid material in a tiny roundbottom flask
2. Add 20ml of anhydrous hydrazine.
3. The mixture is refluxed (or heated) for 30 minutes.
4. Add 20ml of H2O and boil 15 minutes.
5. Transfer to conical flask, stopper and cool in the refrigerator, isolysergic
acid hydrazide will be crystallised.
Step II. Use Red light
Reagants:
2.82ml Hydrazine
260ml 0.1M HCl solution
100ml 0.1M NaNO2 solution
Saturated NaHCO3 solution
Diethyl Ether
At least 10g diethylamine
dH2O
5kg Crushed Ice
Equipment:
Ice Bath
Assorted Glassware
Vacuum Distillation apparatus
Seperatory funnel
1. Chill all reagants and have ice handy.
2. Dissolve 2.82 g hydrazine rapidly in 100ml chilled HCl solution using an ice bath to keep the reaction vessel at 0 C.
3. 100 ml chilled NaNO2 solution is added and stir virgorously for 5 minutes
4. 130 ml more HCl is added dropwise with vigorous stirring again in an ice bath.
5. After 5 minutes, neutralise the solution with NaHCO3 and extract with ether.
6. Seperate and evaporate the aqueous solution under vacuum and dissolve the gummy residue in ether.
7. Combine two ether solutions, mixing well
8. Adjust the ether solution by adding 3 g diethylamine per 300 ml ether extract.
9. Allow to stand in the dark, gradually warming up to 20 C over a period of 24 hours.
10. Evaporate in vacuum and treat as indicated in the purification section for conversion of iso-lysergic amides to lysergic
acid amides.