I'm writing a screenplay and I have a question about making alcohol in jail.
Someone told me that in Tarrant county jail they saw someone make alcohol by mixing different stuff together. Usually when someone makes alcohol in jail it is using juice, sugar and yeast/bread.
But if someone mixed things together, it would have been done with one of the following chemical reactions. When the people in the movie meet in jail I want the Demolitions guy to do some kind of chemistry while they are there. Does anyone know what products available in jail that people use to do this?
Permanganate Oxidation: Similar to Ozonolysis, but with a stronger oxidizing agent. This causes what would be Aldehydes and Ketones in Ozonolysis to become Carboxylic Acids. This is done with Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4).
The Gringard reaction is used to make Alcohols. A Gringard Reagent is made by mixing Magnesium with any Alkyl Halide. A Grindard Reagent will react with Carbonyl compounds to form Alcohols.
Gringard Reagent + Formaldehyde = Primary Alcohols
Gringard Reagent + Aldehydes = Secondary Alcohols
Gringard Reagent + Ketones = Tertiary Alcohols
Sodium Borohydride and Lithium Aluminum Hydride can also be used with Carboxylic Acids to create Alcohols via Reduction.