Choral Hydrate: anyone use it? Synth it?

[Hammilton]

I never realized how easily Choral Hydrate was synthed. I took a look at Rhodium today looking for info on various GHB-analogs and came across a choral hydrate synth. All I can say is "wow"

run chlorine gas through alcohol and evap? how fucking simple can you get?

Maybe Oxycontinuously can chime in here, by why do they bother with the purification steps past the first evaporation? I can't think of any impurities that would be created?

I'm no expert- by why isn't every pill head in america making this shit? I wanna be the next Anna Nicole!!

http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/chloralhydrate.html

[Diacetyl]

Aren't those knockout drops?

I've heard about those, I don't know how they are recreationally, I've never known anyone to try the stuff I've just read about it.

But, to answer your question ill just state the obvious that; its better to be safe than sorry eh? I'd rather like to know my product is purified rather than risk getting chlorine gas into my system


Dying of nazi WWII chemical warfare chemicals would SUCK ASS.

[bronyraur]

while I have little to no chemistry experience, I would have to say that chlorine gas is not something I would want to be fucking around with (being that it is poisonous and all).

[Hammilton]

well, obviously chlorine gas is dangerous, if done properly, this synth poses no threat. The excess chlorine will blow off into the air or into whatever safe recepticle you'd like. Basically, you're mixing bleach and ammonia (though not actually ammonia in this case) in a stoppered test-tube. The stopper has a hole in it so you can connect a plastic tube to direct the produced gas into the bottom the the alcohol-containing stoppered flask. The alcohol flask stopper has two holes- one to let in the gas, the other to direct it out into wherever you'd like.

You heat the alcohol so it's able to dissolve more chlorine.

Then you dissolve the alcohol for the obvious reason of not wanting to have alcohol in your Chloral Hydrate, but also to release any un-reacted chlorine. There should be very, very little chlorine left unreacted, actually, though.

I can't think of any impurities that'll remain though.

OxyContinuously- where are you!!! lol

[mrklean]

SWIM has attempted this synth and was unsuccesful. I think the reason they were unsuccesful is possibly because there was excess H20 in the alcohol and you need totally anhydrous alcohol in order for it to work. SWIM tryed distilling everclear to use as an anhydrous alcohol source but with a homemade kitchen setup for distilling I don't think it was effective. SWIM never consumed the final product because there was no sign of anything solidifying in the container the chloral should have been forming in. It is possible that some chloral had formed just not enough to be visible. SWIM originally got the idea for this synth from someone they met in an institution who had supposedly been succesful with the synth and had become a full fledged chloral addict. Apparently chloral is about atleast as much fun as alcohol recreationally. Or I would guess based on the fact that many alcoholics switched to chloral back in the day. Chloral can mess your stomache up pretty bad which is it's only real bad effect IMO. It's a shame the one spot I knew to get it online is no longer shipping here. Someone with chemistry knowledge should really take the time to write or improve the synth off of rhodium or one of the other available ones. The instructions in all the synth's I have seen leave much to be desired as there aren't even any weights given. I don't wanna be Anna Nicole with all my heart I don't. But, I would love a never ending supply of chloral. Please someone that knows their chemistry write up a synth that we can all run out and do in a Walmart bathroom while on day 15 of a meth binge......seriously this could save lives. :p

[Sitar]

I've seen synths that don't mention alcohol at all. If the synth required anhydrous alcohol, wouldn't that make the final product Chloral Anhydrate? Sorry for any ignorance here, I'm not a chemistry nerd (yet).

[Hammilton]

no, you wouldn't. anhydrous alcohol is no different than any other kind of alcohol, except that it contains absolutely no water- as the water in it is going to take away from the reaction and also make drying a pain in the ass.

There's another something called Chlorbutol that doesn't have the stomach effects of Chloral Hydrate, and is qualitatively damn near the same.

[CSiiSEQ]

No, it's not that hard of a synth if you like the stuff, iirc there are a few ways to get to that product. If tastes horrible and is similar to ethanol in the type of high. If you enjoy drinking, you would like this (most likely). The taste is pretty naty though, the good part is you don't have to drink large volumes to get the effect.

[ChrisCuts]

The reason you don't see it everywhere is because it is fucking terrible once the buzz is gone.

Think of an alcohol hangover multiplied by 9...

I'll try anything once and that shit was certainly not for me.

I'll stick with the scotch and gold old opiates.

Great for soaking a rag in and knocking motherfuckers out movie style though!

[Hammilton]

you're thinking of Chloroform. This is different

Chloroform is a volatile substance- abused as it evaporates. It can be taken orally, in the form of knockout drops- I forget a brand name. I don't think Chloral Hydrate has ever been used as "drops" or in a pill form. Just used as a drink

[CSiiSEQ]

Chloral hydrate is what they are talking about when someone "slips someone a mickey"- old reference to c. hydrate. It is awful tasting, and whoever mentioned the hangovers is correct. It's really a sloppy intoxication similar to alcohol- nothing like CHCl3 though. It is not very noticeable mixed with ethanol, but that depends on the type of drink it's mixed with. When rx'd for sleep, it is usually recommended to mix it with juice. I thought that just made a larger volume to drink, so I always slammed it. I think this is the only (recreational) drug that I had refills on that i didn't bother refilling.

Bottom line, some people will like it (people who enjoy drinking)- others won't.

[mrklean]

i am also not well versed in chemistry so I have no idea what the person was attempting or whether they actually even tried. I think the swim I mentioned before had a small amount of H2o in the alcohol when they attempted and therefore the reaction was slowed down or stopped all together. But, I love to drink so when I move to somewhere its legal and someone can write up or send me a link to a nice step by step recipe, I'll make it right next to my moonshine, and drink it by the bottle.

[jonny-5]

they gave this stuff to me in detox to sleep, and it was freaking great. as far as drinking a bunch to get high, i think there are way better things out there, but if you can successfully synth it or come across some, take it to help you sleep when you are detoxing, it works great. and i never got the wicked hangovers cause i dont think they gave us a high enough dose to produce that effect, but it did knock me out and gave me some really interesting dreams.

[mrklean]

they gave this stuff to me in detox to sleep, and it was freaking great. as far as drinking a bunch to get high, i think there are way better things out there, but if you can successfully synth it or come across some, take it to help you sleep when you are detoxing, it works great. and i never got the wicked hangovers cause i dont think they gave us a high enough dose to produce that effect, but it did knock me out and gave me some really interesting dreams.


You sure it was chloral they gave ya? No doctors really prescribe this stuff anymore. They can. They just usually don't. I would be especially surprised if they gave it to you in detox. It is more likely you are thinking about chlordiazepoxide (.sp?). There are just so many alternatives to chloral which has lots of dangers and side effects. Not to say I haven't seen MUCH crazier things go down in detox LOL

[CSiiSEQ]

I just noticed that the original question was never answered... (is the clean up step needed?)

If you used this exact method, yes it would be necessary. There are going to be lots of intermediates both in terms of oxidation states as well as chlorination states. If anyone was seriously considering this, I recommend that they do a lot more reading before attempting. While it is not a difficult reaction, this is not necessarily the best way to do it. There is also quite a bit of missing information, for example chlorination takes a long time, this guy never mentions time and done this way it could be up to 12 hours.

But back to the question, several of the chlorinated intermediates are hepatotoxic, a few are carcinogenic. There are better synths and methods out there, don't use this "recipe" as your only source of information. Another big point that is left out is that your never going to get a solid until it's hydrated- according to the author he gets solids from the anhydrous alcohol. It's really like all the web recipes- missing info and lacking detail. He also doesn't mention the dangers of chlorine gas, especially when using his method- which is pretty crude!

[Sitar]

You sure it was chloral they gave ya? No doctors really prescribe this stuff anymore. They can. They just usually don't. I would be especially surprised if they gave it to you in detox. It is more likely you are thinking about chlordiazepoxide (.sp?). There are just so many alternatives to chloral which has lots of dangers and side effects. Not to say I haven't seen MUCH crazier things go down in detox LOL

Could have been Clorazepate he was given. That's a benzo, too, and a little stronger than Librium.

[jonny-5]

You sure it was chloral they gave ya? No doctors really prescribe this stuff anymore. They can. They just usually don't. I would be especially surprised if they gave it to you in detox. It is more likely you are thinking about chlordiazepoxide (.sp?). There are just so many alternatives to chloral which has lots of dangers and side effects. Not to say I haven't seen MUCH crazier things go down in detox LOL

ya i know its not used much anymore, but im 100% sure it was chloral hydrate cause i was so surprized that they offered it to me. plus it came in this little plastic cup like a miniature jello cup with the foil lid that said chloral hydrate, i cant remember what dosage but i wanna say 50 mg? i dont know it was a while ago. it was at the kaiser permanente chemical dependency recover program detox in los angeles. it was a strange detox, the doctor said he could either give me enough clonidine to make it so i couldnt move, or he could give me suboxone. which one do you think i chose?

[TappyTibbons]

strangely, while I was searching through my parents med's, as I do every time I am home and they are not, I found bottle of chloral hydrate, a new bottle, just recently prescribed. I wasn't really sure what it was so I didn't snag any, though I had a feeling it was something with some kind of "worth having-ness". A couple days later, while randomly calamering through wikipedia, I came upon a link about chloral hydrate. After I had read up on it, I wish I had grabbed a few, just for rainy dayzzzz.. Funny that they prescribed her that out of all things. I think that she hides any goodish med's from me, after they had found me snagging some of my dads ambiens when I was like 15, cause i can't find that bottle for shit, and it was only a few days after I had first saw the bottle, did I discover what exactly it was, and went back out looking for it, with no success.

[CSiiSEQ]

I had it rx'd for sleep a few years ago. It's not common but there are docs out there that like it and write for it. Nastiest liquid i have ever tasted! Even mixed with oj or other juices, the taste was horrible and the aftertaste hangs around a long time. At really high doses, it is almost benzoish- you end up with total amnesia. I missed 3 whole days back when i was on it. Woke up to very bizarre things in my house. I think that was the last time i took it, after taking a big dose, I couldn't take the smell anymore.

[mrnatural]

In the late 70's, early 80's, we used to do these squishy (like vitamin e) capsules that were purported to be chloral hydrate, but I think they were a close cousin instead. Red 500mg and green 750mg, they were actually Placidyls (ethchlorvynal?) and they would knock you on your ass. Havn't seen any of them in years. That was back when a lot of barbiturates got consumed, in particular seconal, nembutal (mother's little helper, yellow submarine) and the granddaddy of them all, 3 grain (200mg) tuinal. I have a lot of things I can;t remember from that period.

[mrklean]

CSii, thankyou for posting. Your post is exactly what this thread needed.
Maybe all of us could collaborate and come up with a "synthing chloral hydrate for dumbies" type document. I personally don't think the synths which I have seen are too complex to be performed in the kitchen. The recipe just needs some clarifications made. Could someone please post the whole synth? ......if thats ok with the mods.

[HeidiW]

This is another one I've been trying to get since I first read about it in my DARE book in grade school, so many years ago

I'd give my left knee for some if this shit.:cloud9::drool::drinkit:

[Rhonda]

If its like alcohol or benzos why bother with choryl hydrate? And I heard that was the reason anna nichole died, from taking it. It just seems kind of risky without a good reason.

[KhaosPerformer]

If its like alcohol or benzos why bother with choryl hydrate? And I heard that was the reason anna nichole died, from taking it. It just seems kind of risky without a good reason.

The reasons this post interests me are three-fold:
1. because I wanna try every drug under the sun:)
2. because I get UA'ed for benzos and alcohol
3. cause I just LOVE kitchen chemistry.

Guess it's time to look at rhodium, I'll post if I find anything good. I think I'll also check alt.drugs.chemistry.

peace
-K

[HeidiW]

I'm with ya Khaos. I DEFINITELY want to do the shit in the anti-drug books that they claimed would knock you on your ass like quaaludes, Placidyl, Seconal, Amytal, Nembutal, Tuinal, Preludin, and yes, Chloral Hydrate.

[KhaosPerformer]

I'm with ya Khaos. I DEFINITELY want to do the shit in the anti-drug books that they claimed would knock you on your ass like quaaludes, Placidyl, Seconal, Amytal, Nembutal, Tuinal, Preludin, and yes, Chloral Hydrate.

Now thats a attitude I can get behind!! One of my primary reasons for living is trying EVERYTHING at least one, weather or not it's good for me, I just want it all to be fun. The coolest thing for me was when I was going thru my dad's old shit and found a coupla of strange pills. Turns out that they were ludes!! Fucking rad 60's/70's style ludes. That was a great bit of drug-related nostalgia. Mixed em' with cheap red wine just like the hippes and got loaded. God, I wish I was alive in the 60's.

Groovy man!!
-K

[HeidiW]

Oh fuck yeah Khaos, I wish I'd been around in the 50's and 60's too. Hell, in the 50's you could walk into the pharmacy and buy amphetamines/Methedrine right off the shelf! Can you imagine? Or what about the patent medicines they had in the late 1800's? Like Laudanum and that kind of shit? Oh fuck yeah!!:hangloose:vomit2::magicshit

[HeidiW]

Now thats a attitude I can get behind!! One of my primary reasons for living is trying EVERYTHING at least one, weather or not it's good for me, I just want it all to be fun. The coolest thing for me was when I was going thru my dad's old shit and found a coupla of strange pills. Turns out that they were ludes!! Fucking rad 60's/70's style ludes. That was a great bit of drug-related nostalgia. Mixed em' with cheap red wine just like the hippes and got loaded. God, I wish I was alive in the 60's.

Groovy man!!
-K

Khaos Were they AS Sopers???

[KhaosPerformer]

Khaos Were they AS Sopers???
Fuck, the hell if I can remember. It was a few years and alot of weed ago, not to mention they were a bit chipped and scored from knocking around for so long. I guess I just assumed they were ludes cause of a few pics I saw and what my pops told me.

[KhaosPerformer]

Oh fuck yeah Khaos, I wish I'd been around in the 50's and 60's too. Hell, in the 50's you could walk into the pharmacy and buy amphetamines/Methedrine right off the shelf! Can you imagine? Or what about the patent medicines they had in the late 1800's? Like Laudanum and that kind of shit? Oh fuck yeah!!:hangloose:vomit2::magicshit

Yeah, it's just that I can't decide weather I would have wanted to come of age in the 60's or in the 40's. If I had been alive in WWII I would have been there; straight fucking solid. And then I would have been around during the 60's too. That was the last war that America had that was truly good vs. evil. Shit, it was around that time that the nazis made methadone. It says something that done is nazi dope.

Peace and Love
-K

[bronyraur]

Maybe all of us could collaborate and come up with a "synthing chloral hydrate for dumbies" type document.

Can anyone tell me if chloral hydrate is a controlled substance under the US CSA?

If it is, I don't believe that we should be talking about how to make it at home for legal reasons.

Just my opinion, though.

**EDIT** Just checked the DEA website, and Chloral Hydrate (aka Noctec) is a C-IV substance. I think we should end the discussion regarding how to make it. I realize that the Rhodium site gives step by step instructions, but that doesn't make it legal. Don't get me wrong, a lot of stuff is illegal, but I'm just trying to cut our losses. Not to say that we need to stop talking about our experiences with it.

[repeek]

Back to the question: I doubt it will be an easy process. I worked with chlorine gas and it has to be under pressure to stay that way. It is very dangerous stuff on top of that. We worked with 5000 lb tanks of that stuff at a waste treatment plant, once it escapes its pressure container it is heavier than air and kills everything it comes in contact with.

I would think getting a small enough container to do a kitchen lab job would be hard to find.

[jonny-5]

Can anyone tell me if chloral hydrate is a controlled substance under the US CSA?

If it is, I don't believe that we should be talking about how to make it at home for legal reasons.

Just my opinion, though.

**EDIT** Just checked the DEA website, and Chloral Hydrate (aka Noctec) is a C-IV substance. I think we should end the discussion regarding how to make it. I realize that the Rhodium site gives step by step instructions, but that doesn't make it legal. Don't get me wrong, a lot of stuff is illegal, but I'm just trying to cut our losses. Not to say that we need to stop talking about our experiences with it.

good call bdub i was wondering if someone was gonna say that.

[CSiiSEQ]

This is another one I've been trying to get since I first read about it in my DARE book in grade school, so many years ago

I'd give my left knee for some if this shit.:cloud9::drool::drinkit:

I know this won't satisfy your want to do this, but you're really not missing anything all that great! You feel really sloppy like you would with too much alcohol, and you don't remember a thing that happens (similar to benzo amnesia). The last time I took it when i was out for a few days on it, a friend of mine from several states away called. I decided to tell her everything I was doing at the time (i had run out of hydromorphone and was using the chloral to get through withdrawal). I passed out talking to her on the phone, she called my family, told them everything and my door was kicked in my the cops. I came to totally naked (not sure why I had no clothes), with 6 cops standing over me. Not a night I'd like to remember!

As to the synth details, I don't know how the site deals with that kind of stuff, but I would never want to be liable for someone doing a shitty job on any synth and hurting themselves or someone else, so I wouldn't write anything like that. There are just too many people who would try who shouldn't be working with chems.

Someone mentioned the Cl2 gas, that is a good point and one of the dangerous parts in this synth. According to the linked recipe, the Cl2 is being generated for the reaction mixing the drain cleaner, not "bought". If someone really wants to try this, all they need to do is spend some time looking at the reactions and just do some further reading into it. From what I remember, at one point, the guy says to add 2 inches of something (I forget the ingredient), this is really sloppy and is what leads to dangerous reactions. For any reaction, you need a certain amount of each ingredient, that kind of stuff is easy to look up and should be done before trying this.

[roxi*stardust]

Can anyone tell me if chloral hydrate is a controlled substance under the US CSA?

If it is, I don't believe that we should be talking about how to make it at home for legal reasons.

Just my opinion, though.

**EDIT** Just checked the DEA website, and Chloral Hydrate (aka Noctec) is a C-IV substance. I think we should end the discussion regarding how to make it. I realize that the Rhodium site gives step by step instructions, but that doesn't make it legal. Don't get me wrong, a lot of stuff is illegal, but I'm just trying to cut our losses. Not to say that we need to stop talking about our experiences with it.
Yes it is a CIV. We dispensed it alot to patients in the nursing homes.

[flipside]

Can anyone tell me if chloral hydrate is a controlled substance under the US CSA?

If it is, I don't believe that we should be talking about how to make it at home for legal reasons.

Just my opinion, though.

**EDIT** Just checked the DEA website, and Chloral Hydrate (aka Noctec) is a C-IV substance. I think we should end the discussion regarding how to make it. I realize that the Rhodium site gives step by step instructions, but that doesn't make it legal. Don't get me wrong, a lot of stuff is illegal, but I'm just trying to cut our losses. Not to say that we need to stop talking about our experiences with it.


I think that it was decided that this type of discussion was okay. this is Robo's area and he is the mod for this forum, he would have shut the discussion down if he though it nec. I see where you are coming from..but i think this is okay as it is. No discussion of where to obtain research chemicals though

[pharmboy]

I got a bottle once , I couldnt take enough to put me out.. safely any way.
But yea there is a hangover to deal with.

[HeidiW]

Ain't hydrogen chloride gas used to drop speed from the ether??
OxyC, SJ, Hammilton, you guys know what I'm talking about, right?

[mrklean]

As to the synth details, I don't know how the site deals with that kind of stuff, but I would never want to be liable for someone doing a shitty job on any synth and hurting themselves or someone else, so I wouldn't write anything like that. There are just too many people who would try who shouldn't be working with chems.

Someone mentioned the Cl2 gas, that is a good point and one of the dangerous parts in this synth. According to the linked recipe, the Cl2 is being generated for the reaction mixing the drain cleaner, not "bought". If someone really wants to try this, all they need to do is spend some time looking at the reactions and just do some further reading into it. From what I remember, at one point, the guy says to add 2 inches of something (I forget the ingredient), this is really sloppy and is what leads to dangerous reactions. For any reaction, you need a certain amount of each ingredient, that kind of stuff is easy to look up and should be done before trying this.


I think harm reduction is actually a good reason we should discuss the synth. This "recipe" is allover the net and is a total disaaster waiting to happen. As far as I can tell the writeup I am thinking of has got the general idea of making kitchen chloral hydrate described with some accuracy. But as CSii stated it is very sloppy, particularly concerning the proper ratios. I know for a fact that people are trying to use these recipes regardless of the fact that they lack even the proper amounts of ingredients to use. By discussing this we are only providing information which is available elsewhere. We would simply be formatting it in the style of a friendly dialogue as opposed to other less user friendly sources of knowledge. Does anyone want to contribute anything on the proper amount/concentration of each ingredient to make this recipe work? Or just share any possible hazards one could encounter trying this?

My chemistry impaired contribution: The method of producing chlorine gas discussed is pretty safe IMO. I think you would be pretty hardpressed to harm anyone with the amount of chlorine gas this method will produce on a small scale. Proper ventilation is a must. If you mix mix alcohol and chlorine you can blow yourself up be careful. Besides blowing yourself up, or inhaling chlorine gas its safe. more or less.

[HeidiW]

Ain't hydrogen chloride gas used to drop speed from the ether??
OxyC, SJ, Hammilton, you guys know what I'm talking about, right?


Someone please, answer this!!!!!!!!!!!

[CSiiSEQ]

^yes, you can pull methamphetamine from either ether or toluene depending on method

[robojunkie]

Yeah, we can talk about any syntheses and ideas and such, just no claims of actual work on these and no asking for "help" or sources of chems. Anything else is freedom of speech and harm reduction.

Oh and if we are going to start showing such admiration and respect for any imaginable law, we might as well just quit opiophile and opiates, right??? Just as an FYI, a vast number of rhodium's stuff comes from, you guessed it, legitimate legal research publications in the scientific journals. Whether its any number of meth syntheses (though the underground has kicked in a lot on this), fentanyls, lsd, tryptamines, phenethylamines/isopropylamines and so on are almost all culled from the scientific literature as is. There is nothing wrong with discussing this stuff. "Legitimate" scientists/chemists do it all the time. Hell my undergrad orgo text had as a bonus HW question how to do a total synth of lysergic acid! With the answer in the solutions manual!!! Just no "helping" someone who is dumb enough to say they (or that fucking asshole SWIM) are actually doing it for real.

Anti-censorship rant over before it starts...

[pharmboy]

There use to be this stuff alot like Chloral but much
stonger called Placadyl I think the generic name was
Eclorvianol or something like that. If some one could
find a synth for that it would kick ass. Actually many
asses.

[CSiiSEQ]

^Have you ever tried it? I don't have any personal experience with it, but am curious about what it's like compared to chloral-H. I'm not even sure it's still on the market. I know the withdrawal syndrome is supposed to be quite nasty- auditory and visual hallucinations and it starts quite rapidly. When it was rx'd, it was usually only for a 7 day period to avoid the w/drawal.

Off the top of my head, I don't recall much about the synth. I thought there was a semi-available precursor that used to be around, but I might be confusing it with something else. I'll check into it a little later. Interesting chem, I had forgotten about it- I used to want to try it until I had the chloral awhile back. After the chloral, I wasn't quite as enthused about the whole thing.

[Duckfeet]

Yeah, jelly reds, jelly greens, could stick yer rig right in the capsule, and suck it up...if u wanted to get knocked out....to me, I never liked'em...



There use to be this stuff alot like Chloral but much
stonger called Placadyl I think the generic name was
Eclorvianol or something like that. If some one could
find a synth for that it would kick ass. Actually many
asses.

[robojunkie]

MrKlean: The reason your swim's attempts didn't work is not because your swim's (oh how I hate that phrase, just say an old friend or some shit) distillation was ineffective, its because ethanol and water form a low boiling azeotrope, as in a mixture that distills at the same ratio of vapor as solution. So you can't distill ethanol to "anhydrous", only to about 96%. The classic industrial way, I believe, is to add benzene of all things, which also forms an azeotrope that boils even lower and that pulls the remaining water, then the now anhydrous ethanol is distilled.

Sitar (I think it was you that asked): Chloral hydrate can be "anhydrous" or need to be made from anhydrous material because the last step, the hydrate formation, is due to the chemistry of the chloral molecule. Unlike most ketones and many aldehydes the three chloro groups destablize the aldehyde and the second OH as in two hydroxyls and a H on the second carbon is an aldehyde hydrate. Its not a hydrate in the sense that there is free water, there isn't. It isn't even complexed water like in epsom salts or other salts that absorb water. Also chlorine doesn't come directly from bleach and ammonia, it comes from bleach and HCl. Bleach and ammonia will give an equally nasty gas called chloramine, NH2Cl, as in an electropositive chlorine, not a salt like ammonium chloride, NH4 Cl.

I've never done this shit, heard it tastes awful, awful hangover, don't really care all that much for the drunk feeling anyway. If I was gonna ever bother with any sedative I suppose rohypnol (done it) or methaqualone (haven't done it) would be at the top of the list. Oh wait, I'd make heroin from maple leaves, old leather and acetic acid.

Never bothered to look for ethchlorvinol but I can't imagine it would be too hard. It's probably just a matter of chlorinating propanedialdehyde (aka malondialdehyde?), ethyl Grignard, gentle oxidation and finally an acetylide anion. I imagine its not the type of compound whose precursors lend itself to a kitchen cook, but I'm just guessing at the way its made (or one possible way, certainly there are shorter ones). I just can't imagine someone having enough drive to make this shit to go through all that crap. Barbiturates or even qualuude derivatives could be made with about the same amount of work. I think they're both four or five steppers.