what harmful by-products would it produce by burning?

When DMT is burned rather than vaporized, it undergoes a process of combustion which can produce a range of potentially harmful by-products. These can include:

1. **Carbon Monoxide (CO)**: A colorless, odorless gas that can be very harmful when inhaled, as it binds to hemoglobin in the blood more effectively than oxygen, leading to oxygen deprivation in the body.

2. **Various Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)**: These gases can be irritating to the respiratory system and, in some cases, may contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain.

3. **Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)**: These are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. Some PAHs are known carcinogens.

4. **Aldehydes (such as Formaldehyde)**: These compounds can be irritating to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Prolonged exposure to high levels of aldehydes can be harmful.

5. **Other Particulate Matter**: Burning can produce small particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, potentially causing respiratory issues.

These by-products are not unique to DMT but are common in the combustion of many organic compounds. The specific composition and quantity of these by-products can vary depending on the exact temperature and conditions of combustion. This is why vaporization, which involves heating a substance to a temperature where it turns into vapor without burning, is often considered a safer method of inhalation for various substances, as it minimizes the production of harmful combustion by-products.

I don't understand how these products would be produced from freebase DMT when the molecules needed aren't present as far as I'm aware.

You raise a valid point. The formation of specific by-products during the combustion of a substance like freebase DMT depends on its chemical structure and the presence of certain elements in the molecule.

DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) primarily consists of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and nitrogen (N) atoms. Its chemical structure does not include oxygen (O), which is a key element in compounds like aldehydes and carboxylic acids that can be formed during combustion. This means that some of the by-products typical of burning organic materials (like wood or tobacco), which contain oxygen in their structures, might not be produced in the same way or abundance when DMT is burned.

However, the process of combustion can still lead to the breakdown and rearrangement of the DMT molecule, potentially forming various compounds. These could include:

1. **Breakdown products of the tryptamine structure**: The combustion of the tryptamine backbone could lead to a variety of smaller hydrocarbons or nitrogen-containing compounds.

2. **Nitrogen oxides (NOx)**: These might still be produced since DMT contains nitrogen. The high-temperature combustion in the presence of atmospheric oxygen can convert molecular nitrogen (N2) and nitrogen in the compound into various oxides of nitrogen.

3. **Carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2)**: Incomplete combustion can produce carbon monoxide, while complete combustion would typically produce carbon dioxide.

4. **Complex mixtures of other organic compounds**: Depending on the combustion conditions, a variety of other complex organic compounds could potentially be formed.

It's important to note that the specific by-products of burning DMT are not well-characterized in scientific literature, as most research focuses on its pharmacological effects rather than its combustion chemistry. Additionally, the practical implications of inhaling these by-products, especially in the context of using DMT, are not fully understood. As always, caution and adherence to health and safety guidelines are crucial.

DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) primarily consists of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and nitrogen (N) atoms. Its chemical structure does not include oxygen (O), which is a key element in compounds like aldehydes and carboxylic acids that can be formed during combustion. This means that some of the by-products typical of burning organic materials (like wood or tobacco), which contain oxygen in their structures, might not be produced in the same way or abundance when DMT is burned.

Can't wait for a chemical expert to weigh in and correct ChatGPT (if necessary) .

One love

I'm no chemical expert, but i know this: oxygen is present in the combustion of DMT, because it is in the air.

Right? I thought the same when I read that but I don't know enough chem to know if there's a difference between oxygen being in the air or locked into the molecular structure... Which shouldn't make a difference anyways because DMT oxidizes.

Me neither

To be fair, GPT's wording was pretty good: "might not be produced in the same way or abundance". It didn't say "can't be produced".

The range of DMT pyrolysis products at a given temperature would vary depending on the levels of ambient atmospheric oxygen. For example, I suspect that DMT might vaporize largely unchanged in an inert - oxygen-free - atmosphere, since that's what can be achieved with careful heating in ordinary airflow, whereas heating it in pure oxygen would lead to complete combustion, producing carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen/oxides of nitrogen. This just highlights the two extreme cases; air can be used as a means of adding oxygen in certain chemical reactions since it is a form of dilute oxygen.

It seems, therefore, reasonable to assert that incomplete combustion in the presence of air may give rise to some oxygenated products, even from a substance that didn't originally contain any.

The more carefully and skilfully one vaporises one's DMT, the better - is my opinion. It should be smooth and relatively tasty (compared with burning it, indeed). The more burnt it is, the more likely you are to encounter unfavorable pyrolysis products, right up to the point just before complete combustion. I do sometimes wonder about Terence McKenna's brain tumour...

But considering the relatively small amount of vapor (not even smoke), the amount of the byproducts is certainly too small be of any kind of significance.

Just because something is a known toxin, the miniscule amount that you get exposed to is probably nothing that harms you in the short or long term.

Well, tobacco also contains harmala alkaloids. So my reasoning would be that the damage of smoking tobacco is that of the burning harmala alkaloids+all of the other toxic materials in it.

So then smoking changa or cannabis with harmala's still exposes you to only a fraction of the toxic stuff that a cigarette smoker is normally being exposed to.

But there's no DMT in tobacco, or any other tryptamine. As far as i know.