Is it possible to convert the acetic acid attached to the dmt to acetone? Wouild it have to be freebased first? ( and negating the idea of using it in the first place)
If it could be converted as dmt acetate one could then simply evaporate the acetone afterwards to leave dmt freebase..

Acetic acid is an an acid, this allows it to bind to the amine part of DMT. Acetone is not an acid, so it cannot form a conjugate salt wit DMT. Explanation here.

Also, acetic acid has two carbons, acetone has three. It is much easier to turn acetone into acetic, just add bleach and you'll get some free chloroform as a bonus. Look up the Haloform_reaction. Don't add the bleach to your DMT.

Conversely, acetone shares an etymological root with acetic acid: acetum, meaning vinegar. The suffix -one is a feminine derivative as in 'anemone', which itself means 'daughter of the wind'.

Acetone is therefore 'daughter of vinegar' - but why?

Well, acetone can be formed by heating calcium acetate - the product of reacting chalk with vinegar.

I doubt that a similar reaction would occur with DMT acetate. DMT is not a strong enough base to decarboxylate an acetate anion, whereas calcium oxide is.

Relevant chemical equations:

(VINEGAR)+(CHALK)->(CALCIUM ACETATE)
2CH3COOH + CaCO3 -> Ca(CH3CO2)2 +H2O + CO2

(Ca ACETATE)-> (CHALK)+(ACETONE)
Ca(CH3CO2)2 -> CaCO3 + (CH3)2CO

I think you forgot to add "and other side products" to the right hand side of the equation, as the dry distillation of calcium acetate is likely far from a clean reaction.

You're right there. I was just being lazy. Mesityl oxide and mesitylene spring to mind.

When I tried this myself many years ago, the resulting liquid had a charred, musty odour which rather overwhelmed the usual acetone smell.

If (for some deranged reason) I wanted to convert acetic acid to acetone without using the pyrolytic method, I'd probably convert it to acetyl chloride with PCl5 then react it with dimethyl cadmium. This would be a way to waste lots of time and money doing something pointless via an unnecessarily dangerous and toxic route.

^lol

Thanks for the informative replies!