(March 4, 2014 at 8:10 pm)Aractus Wrote: Converting Phe to amphetamine is also very easy, and the whole cook is a lot simpler, and for that matter safer, than a P2P cook. Mr White obviously can't be a very good chemistry teacher if he wants to make meth the hardest imaginable way!
There are a few reasons about the hardest way:
1) Easy to show on TV
2) Easy to detect due to the ingredients
The story-wise explanation may be as follows:
Purification of Phe->amphetamine may require additional passes to purify or does not crystallize as easily/leaves contaminants. As Walt's product spiel is "the purest" meth, any additional time spent to refine from a less controlled source is inviable. Furthermore, the yield amounts may be lower for a Phe->amph conversion or requires rarer catalysts that are easier to watch/track.
Hydrogen is not easy to process and contain in large quantities, for example. Metals are prone to purity issues. Etc, etc,.
Slave to the Patriarchy no more
