A well-stirred suspension of 4.7 g LAH in 500 mL anhydrous Et₂O was brought up to a gentle reflux, and 4.7 g 3,4-dimethoxy-α-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile was leached in from a Soxhlet thimble, over the course of 3 h. The color of the ether solution progressed from yellow to green, to an eventual blue. The reflux was maintained for 16 h. After cooling again, there was added (carefully) a solution of 27 g H₂SO₄ in 500 mL H₂O. The completely clear two-phase mixture was separated, and the aqueous phase treated with 87 g potassium sodium tartrate. The addition of 25% NaOH brought the pH >9, and this phase was extracted with 4×100 mL CH₂Cl₂. Removal of all the organic solvents under vacuum gave a residue that was part oil and part solid. This was extracted with 4×50 mL boiling Et₂O, the extracts pooled, and saturated with anhydrous HCl gas. The 0.95 g of pale-yellow crystals that formed were removed by filtration, and finely ground under 5 mL CH₃CN. There remained, after refiltration and air drying, 0.85 g of 3,4-dimethoxy-β-hydroxyphenethylamine hydrochloride, DME, with a mp of 170–172 °C.

An exactly analogous compound is 3,4-methylenedioxy-β-ethanolamine, where the masking is done with the biologically more fragile methylenedioxy ether. Originally I had called this compound MDE (methylenedioxyethanolamine) but that code has been, since 1975, used exclusively for , which is a recipe all by itself. Under the discussion of members of the BOX series, there is a methylenedioxyphenethylamine with a methoxyl group at the beta-position, and it is called (q.v.). There, a reasonable code name for this specific compound is given, namely . “BO” stands for the beta-oxygen function on a phenethylamine; this is the heart of the BOX family. The “H” which is the third letter of BOHH stands for the free hydroxyl group. And the final “H” is for (which is the trivial name for the compound without the hydroxyl group). BOHH, or 3,4-methylenedioxy-β-hydroxyphenethylamine, or 3,4-methylenedioxy-β-ethanolamine, has also be assayed in man at up to 100 milligrams without any effects, and must be considered, as of now, to be inactive centrally. The possible toxic roles of beta-ethanolamines as potential adrenolytic agents, have been discussed in the recipe. And beware of the use of the code name MDE in the very old literature. It might be this BOHH compound.