Can someone please explain the DMT syntheses from tryptamine?

[Rabidreject]

I have some tryptamine on the way with a view of synthesising a few things for myself.
First off I suppose is DMT - now I know the process but can someone explain what happens at each step? That way I will fully understand it.
I know using 37% formaldehyde is common, as is absolute methanol, as is a reducer - now this is where I get confused as to what to use? Do they all perform the same thing? The sodium borohydride vs STAB vs SCABH what is best to use and why?
thanks peoples

 

[Wiley Smith]

Yes, the science behind it is very easyy to understand, but the steps are more confusing, I know the science but not the exact steps, here is the science.
Tryptamine the chemical found in animals and plants, is a very similar chemical structure to N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, except instead of Methyl groups connecting to the nitrogen, it is hydrogen atoms. To convert tryptamine to its dimethyl variant you need to preform a process called methylziation (I think that's the name), which is were you convert basic hydrogen atoms into Methyl groups, in the case of this scenario, it is were you convert the Hydrogen atoms at the Rn1 and Rn2 positions into Methyl groups, with a methylziation agent, such as formaldehyde, formaldehyde converts the hydrogen atoms into Methyl groups causing the conversion of basic tryptamine into its magical variant, DMT. (If I'm wrong on any of this, correct me)

 

[Rabidreject]

To be fair I know the process now and am nearly there - I got a few crystals from the final re-x from heptane but the oil created in the second last step (if using NaBH4) is SUPER HARD to do a successful re-x from it.

The synth i am following I found on Reddit but have confirmed with others that it is meant to work - I’m just a little confused as to why my oil at the last stage doesn’t want to re-x from boiling heptane.

Also not totally sure if I do a freeze precip on said heptane to access the DMT or if I’m supposed to evaporate the heptane. I assume the latter - hence the mention of a need for a vacuum chamber (annoyingly) as they cost even more money lol

This has become a synthesis I think I will be trying again and again until I figure it out seeing as I have so much tryptamine.
I intend to start easier by getting some aldehyde and doing a Henry reaction on it, then reductive amination on that to get mescaline and one of the TMA’s but I’m slowly saving up my nitromethane and nitroethane for that before I buy a lot of the relevant aldehyde.
It’s pretty mad how much iv learnt since I made this post to be fair!

 

[Rabidreject]

That all sounded correct to me by the way, didn’t mean to come off sounding arrogant there. That was a really good answer…I sort of swept that under the rug by accident purely as I’m so close to having performed the RXN I’m just not sure if I added the reducing agent too early - I think you forgot to mention that by the way, you got the formaldehyde correct though and this is where I get confused - does the NaBH4 act as a catalyst and also is this still reductive amination - given that tryptamine is already an amine….thats where my confusion stood when I made the post and iv not really cleared that up in my mind since then.
It’s why I find the reductive amination of certain aldehydes more understandable - iv not really looked into normal amphetamines but certainly the psychedelic ones and is easier to understand.