Phenylacetic acid methamphetamine

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Phenylacetic acid is an immediate precursor of l-phenyl-2-propanone (P-2-P), a substance in Table I of the 1988 Convention that is used in the manufacture of amphetamine and methamphetamine. Concerned by the increase in seizures of phenylacetic acid and illicitly manufactured P-2-P, the Board instructed its advisory expert group2 to review the situation. The review, conducted in October 2006, found that the illicit manufacture of both amphetamine and methamphetamine appeared to be on the rise, posing a threat to public health and lying at the root of other social problems. The Board concluded that the controls required for the substances in Table II of the Convention were insufficient to prevent diversions of phenylacetic acid. On that basis and having assessed the relevant comments and supplementary information provided by Governments pursuant to article 12 of the Convention, the Board submitted a communication to the Secretary-General in January 2007 to formally initiate the procedures for the transfer of phenylacetic acid from Table II to Table I of the Convention. 

The best way to produce phenylacetone on a large scale and continuous basis is by a catalyst bed inside a tube furnace. This has several advantages over the other methods described in this book. Cheap and very common acetic acid is used to react with phenylacetic acid instead of the expensive and more exotic acetic anhydride and pyridine. Use of the tube furnace frees up the glassware for use in other operations. The furnace requires very little attention while it is in operation, which allows the underground chemist to spend his time turning the phenylacetone into methamphetamine. There is no reason why this process cannot be used in small-scale production. It is just that its advantages really come out when large amounts of phenylacetone must be produced. 

Phenethylamine is found throughout nature, in both plants and animals. It is the end product of phenylalanine in the putrefaction of tissue. One of its most popularized occurrences has been as a major component of chocolate, and it has hit the Sunday Supplements as the lovesickness chemical. Those falling out of love are compulsive chocolate eaters, trying to replenish and repair the body s loss of this compound-or so the myth goes. But this amine is voraciously metabolized to the apparently inactive compound phenylacetic acid, and to some tyramine as well. Both of these products are also normal components in the body. And, as a wry side-comment, phenylacetic acid is a major precursor in the illicit synthesis of amphetamine and methamphetamine. 

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