Making an antiseizure medication from almond oil and urine

It's definitely a striking orange, I'll say that.

to what?

Why don't you have a pH meter? They're less than $14! <a href="http://a.co/cwEBrnn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://a.co/cwEBrnn</a>

Youtube is turning into a horrible place to post chemistry videos. Too many people whinging about a subject they clearly don't know enough about.

wtf happened?

Lindy

Yeah he did promise to make one of the MAOI but I don't want to see him get a strike. Youtube silly rules (Sometimes!!!).

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

Azidothymidine (AZT) could be interesting. It was the first effective medication to treat HIV. It was initially very expensive and this apparently led to quite a few cases of people synthesising it themselves to self-medicate. In 2001 the Brazillian government, recognising an urgent need for AZT but being unable to afford to pay the patent holder, also began producing it.

Maybe it's just me, but am I the only one that thinks the solution at 8:45 is just a really pleasing color?

Awesome! First time I see a paper-clip used as a low-profile stir bar. Will keep that in mind.

That makes sense. Great video!

oh, now i see it. Yeah, that was on purpose. I wanted to highly the natural sources that i was getting the ingredients from.

Nile Red

It's at 33 seconds in. Sorry, I paused at the wrong place and got the wrong time.

I also love doing projects like that!

Nile Red

Yeah, its not a bad idea. I just forgot to mention it though :p

Nile Red

lol, it was a total reference

Nile Red

Thanks, im glad you appreciate the crystallizations!

Nile Red

It very well might be correct! For other projects though, ive directly used the oil before, and gotten high yields. It wasnt the same batch of almond oil though, so maybe this one just isnt very pure

Nile Red

As far as i know, the cyanide method is more direct and generally gives a better yield

Nile Red

hey, i check out the 0:40 mark and im not sure what you mean!

Nile Red

At around 0:40, you say "urine" instead of "urea." I don't know if that was a mistake or if you feel like re-recording that audio, but I figured I'd point it out just in case.

Chemplayer got a 72% yield on the benzoin synthethis from benzaldehyde using a cyanide catalyst. Do you think their method is in some way more efficient in small scale synthethis or is it just the purity of the benzaldehyde you used? (very nice production quality on the video btw!)

I suggest not messing with TCA or MAOI; I'm sure that would bring strikes to the channel or worse, given that some of those are used as adjuncts to increase the effectiveness of certain illegal drugs.

Silviu T

If my research is correct (please correct me if I'm wrong; for science!), you are closer to a 41% yield.

Michael Aichlmayr

Well, that interesting. However Phenytol can damage your teeth and gums and cause your liver to be damaged Long term. Drugs like Epival (Sodium Valporic acid) can damage liver, kidneys, bone marrow, platelets, etc. These old meds are very powerful however useful for some application. I would LOVE to see you make MAOIs or TCA (Tricylic antidepressants) if that is possible Red Nile!!

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

I've been doing a little digging, and I may have a partial explaination for your initial yield. Everything I can find suggests that the benzaldehyde in bitter almond oil is around 60%. Here's one source: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037700/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037700/</a>

Michael Aichlmayr

Nice video! I love those multi-step syntheses, especially with the pretty recristallisation timelapses in-between.

Gabriel J.

Very cool video; thank you for doing it! (I just love beautiful white crystals!) Since you have done videos extracting benzaldehyde from bitter almond and cinnamon oils, perhaps it's worth mentioning in the video and referring to and putting links in the description.

Michael Aichlmayr

/s great video, seriously.

The Gayest Person on Patreon

Nice reference, I remember that Old Testament Bible story! The rabbi only had enough anti-seizure medication for four days but by a miracle it lasted for eight! I think that’s how it went. I may be mixing things up and may have misheard the end of your video, though.

The Gayest Person on Patreon

I really love it, when you do a video about some edible chem (aromatics and stuff), or when you combine more or less common chemicals to a medicine or some other cool known use.

Alf-Marius Dahl Bysveen