<P> In 2013, two scenes from the first season of Breaking Bad were put under scrutiny in a Mythbusters Breaking Bad Special . Despite several modifications to what was seen in the show, both the scenes depicted in the show were shown to be physically impossible . In the "Crazy Handful of Nothin"' episode, Walt produces a batch of fulminated mercury, in crystalline form, and threatens to raze Tuco Salamanca's office to the ground . Although the compound is unstable, MythBusters has shown that Walt would have needed a much greater quantity of the compound along with a much faster throwing velocity, and that he and everyone else would have died from the concussive blast . </P> <P> Jason Wallach of Vice magazine commended the accuracy of the cooking methods presented in the series . In early episodes, a once common clandestine route, the Nagai red phosphorus / iodine method, is depicted, which uses pseudoephedrine as a precursor to d - (+) - methamphetamine . By the season 1 finale, Walt chooses to use a different synthetic route based on the difficulty of acquiring enough pseudoephedrine to produce on the larger scale required . The new method Walt chooses is a reductive amination reaction, relying on phenyl - 2 - propanone and methylamine . On the show, the phenyl - 2 - propanone (otherwise known as phenylacetone or P2P) is produced from phenylacetic acid and acetic acid using a tube furnace and thorium dioxide (ThO) as a catalyst, as mentioned in episodes "A No Rough - Stuff - Type Deal" and "Más". P2P and methylamine form an imine intermediate; reduction of this P2P - methylamine imine intermediate is performed using mercury aluminium amalgam, as shown in several episodes including "Hazard Pay". </P> <P> One of the important plot points in the series is that the crystal meth Walter "cooks" has very long crystals, is very pure, and (despite its purity) has a strong cyan blue color . Truly ultra-pure crystal meth would tend to be clear or white . Nonetheless, it is noted during the show that some competing meth producers were dyeing their product blue to trick their customers into thinking they were buying Walt's highly potent product . </P> <P> In their article "Die Chemie bei Breaking Bad" on Chemie in unserer Zeit (translated into English on ChemistryViews as "The Chemistry of' Breaking Bad"'), Tunga Salthammer and Falk Harnish discuss the plausibility of the chemistry portrayed in certain scenes . According to the two, chemistry is clearly depicted as a manufacturing science without much explanation of analytical methods being provided . On the other hand, serious scientific subjects are mixed into the dialog in order to show a world where chemistry plays a key role . </P>

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