PERFORMANCE ENHANCER FROM DEET: COMPLETE! (Patreon)

After the novocaine synthesis fell through, I started searching for an alternative substance to make from the diethylamine I recently obtained from DEET bug spray. Luckily for me, a commenter brought my attention to nikethamide (nicotinic acid diethylamide): a cardiovascular/respiratory stimulant and a banned performance enhancer (at least banned in the Olympics). A lot of my videos on "banned" substances, as well as legal drugs, seem to do fairly well, so I figured this would be a fun and worthwhile project to tackle!

At first, my plan was to esterify nicotinic acid (niacin) with ethanol to form ethyl nicotinate, which I would then react with diethylamine to produce nikethamide. Unfortunately, the esterification did not go very well, and I only obtained a few droplets of oil. So, I switched gears. The nicotinic acid was reacted with thionyl chloride to produce nicotinoyl chloride hydrochloride, and that was quenched with an excess of diethylamine under DCM. This successfully produced nikethamide, which I vacuum distilled at 150C. The result was the 8.5 grams of viscous liquid seen above, corresponding to a roughly 60% yield.

Nikethamide freezes right around room temperature, although my samples have proven to be a bit stubborn (potentially due to some vacuum sealant grease contamination). The crystals in the mixture are most likely leftover nicotinic acid, which probably sublimated in the high vacuum with the nikethamide. To remove them, I attempted to use a solution of sodium bicarbonate, but the oil formed an emulsion that currently refuses to separate. I might need to extract into DCM again and then evaporate it down. Either way, I'm planning to send a sample to "Neptunium" along with my next cola sample to confirm what I made!

I can't say for sure when this video will be done, but I can say that my new thioacetone video will be released this weekend (hoping to finish the editing and get Patreon early access up in the next few days). Be sure to stay tuned, I'll be giving away samples to my existing $20 Patrons, new $15 Patrons, and anyone who donates $20 or more to my channel (limited to the United States though)!