Large-Scale Methamphetamine Manufacture

5.0 Manufacture of Methylamine from Formaldehyde and Ammonium Chloride

The use of phenylacetones as precursors to Meth and Ecstasy require methylamine to complete the reaction. Fortunately, it is fairly easy, if time consuming, to manufacture. Both formaldehyde and ammonium chloride are easily obtainable chemicals used extensively in industry. One can divert formaldehyde from taxidermists and ammonium chloride from many plating shops and even the drugstore. Once again, we have a two-step procedure; the first making methylamine hydrochloride crystals which are stored in the freezer until used, and a purification step where the methylamine is collected and diluted.

5.1 Equipment

To perform this procedure we will need the following equipment.

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  A rigid-base 10-liter heating mantle with dual controls.
  
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  Two 10-liter round-bottom 3-neck flask
  
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  Three 2000ml RB flasks.
  
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  A 30cm West condenser.
  
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  A 500ml dropping funnel.
  
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  A 75cm dual-surface reflux condenser with 24/40 joints(bottom male, top female)
  
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  Several clean 5-liter and 5-gal buckets with tops.
  
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  A fabricated condenser capable of condensing ammonia (bp -33°C). This condenser is fabricated using a 1 gallon paint can and a section of ¼" brake line found at the auto parts store. About 24" of brake line is carefully coiled into a spiral that fits inside the paint can. An exit tube about 2" long and an entrance are brazed to the can. There must be no leaks at the bottom. Also, the coiled brake line must not have any section that is crimped or runs "uphill" - this can cause a serious backpressure problem. When filled about 1/3 with methanol or ethanol and chilled with dry ice, this condenser will be at -75°C, which is cold enough to condense ammonia. Wrap the paint can with pipe insulation and duct tape. Without the insulation, the dry ice must be replenished at intervals short enough to be distracting. This writer attached a mounting handle but later discovered that it is much easier to simply set it on a table or bench of the proper height. Do a test run with alcohol and dry ice to see if any leaks appear when the brazing is rapidly chilled. Check to see that water runs smoothly through the condenser without any backpressure. This is not a piece of equipment one wants to test as it is used.
  

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  In addition to the dry ice condenser, we will need to circulate ice water through a reflux condenser in order to condense out any water vapor that may accompany the methylamine gas. This writer purchased a perfectly good circulating chiller at a mining equipment sale that pumps -20°C antifreeze solution. Otherwise, one can make a perfectly acceptable chiller out of aquarium pumps and a 10-gallon Coleman ice chest. Connect two aquarium pumps together in parallel so if one pump fails in the middle of the reaction the other can continue on until the procedure is finished. Drill holes in the top of the cooler for the pump cord and circulating lines. Add a layer of water on the bottom and drop in several bags of ice. As the ice melts, add more. This will give us about a 1°C circulating solution. If a colder solution is desired, one simply uses cheap plumbing antifreeze that won't freeze at -30°C and chills it with dry ice instead of water ice. The pumps may become unreliable at the reduced temperature.