Question Please Help! I have no experience in chemistry whatsoever looking for advice

[ReidThompson]

Hey so I came across this site a long time ago and I grew really interested in chemistry and synthesizing myself but I don’t know how to study chemistry and what’s necessary for me to know in order for me to get to a point where I can grasp everything in here.
I tried in my own but I lose motivation quick cause this field is so vast and I need experienced chemists to point me to what topics I need to cover.
If you can list me what I need to learn I would be very very happy I just don’t know how to get started. Even if the journey would take months or even years I’m in for it just need to know thanks in advance

 

[Osmosis Vanderwaal]

If you want to be a chemist you have to learn a whole lot, but if you learn lab techniques and proceedures, then you can follow someone elses synthisis and repeat it. Being able to calculate your own work takes a lot of knowledge, but if you can follow instructions and learn common lab practices, then you can reverse engineer as you go. You can look at the mechanism of each reaction and learn how it progresses. You can look up named reactions and learn why they work and what they work on or dont and learn the different moietys and naming conventions, Paramount to finding literature that is useful for your needs is properly naming the structures you are hoping to find. People have been sucessful without knowing a single thing about what they were doing, by following directions very closely.

 

[ReidThompson]

So a lot of dedication and just start from watching synth video and go backwards and down a rabbit hole a million times until the picture becomes clear? I guess like Grubby said the goal should be clear why would I be interested in learning molar mass acids bases and all that stuff if I don’t even know where I would apply it

 

[ReidThompson]

Thanks for replying I really appreciate it

 

[Grubby]

I started just like you, and now I am not much different from you. You need a clear goal, such as ice, and then find someone who can teach you all the steps directly. The sooner you meet someone, the sooner you will be enlightened. Otherwise, you will be in trial and error forever (don't pay any scientist who charges like you). People who are capable of making it and have the spare time to teach you will not waste their time with you for a little tuition. Conversely, people who are capable of making it but don't want to teach you will not change their minds and be willing to teach you just because you are willing to pay.

 

[ReidThompson]

Seems like you’re speaking from experience with finding a tutor or someone to teach you.
Were you able to overcome that challenge and learn on your own? Because finding someone with that knowledge is difficult especially in real life

 

[ReidThompson]

Seems like you’re speaking from experience with finding a tutor or someone to teach you.
Were you able to overcome that challenge and learn on your own? Because finding someone with that knowledge is difficult especially in real life. Btw thanks for the tips

 

[ReidThompson]

My goal is to extract oxycodone from OxyContin and convert it to oxymorphone. That is a dream of mine. Don’t know if you care I’m just sharing I really wonder how do I get rid of that annoying gel thing and get a find powder

 

[Grubby]

We are studying different things and cannot provide you with substantial help. If you are still at this stage (haven't synthesized the final target product), keep an open mind to receive new knowledge. When you encounter bottlenecks, check many boring papers from academic institutions. If you can't understand, check Wikipedia. If the language is different, use Google Translate. Be diligent and collect more information from different sources, cross-compare, filter out erroneous information, and finally verify something through actual attempts and learn a correct step. Everything is worth it. I wish you good luck and success soon

 

[ReidThompson]

Well in that case my real bottleneck is getting the equipment and all the chemicals
Cause you get a lot of synth videos but it’s always “synthesizing mephedrone with a precursor that is just unavailable for example 2-bromo-4methylblahblahblah to mephedrone and then we use a bunch of strictly regulated chemicals as reagents and catalysts” the recipe I don’t have problem finding it’s the chemicals themselves. Guess I should start with making soap hahaha thanks for the tips anyway I really appreciate it