Visionary Cactus Guide

CA 61,8515 The preparation of mescaline from eucalypt lignin.

D. Amos, Dept. Supply, Defense Std Lab, Melbourne.

Austral asian J. Pharm., 45, 529 (1964)

Dried Eucalyptus Regnans sawdust oxidized with nitrobenzene and alkali @ 150 C yielding 4% of springaldehyde.

Methylation @ 0 - 5 C for 1hr with Me2SO4, then heated at 70 for 1hr gave 56% 3,4,5 trimethoxybenzaldehyde.

Converted to the cyanohydrin ( ie + KCN + weak acid - jm ) then reduced with Pb black to mescaline. Overall yield 1% from dried sawdust.

E. obliqua and E. diversicolour both gave 0.7% yields.