Accidentally diluted my extraction..

[woozy]

I accidentally bcracked open a flask dropping my based solution into roughly 3 times it volume. Currently pH is at 11.5. Weird it's so high still.. I must have over based.

What do I need to do to recover? Can I move it to a large flask and just continue. Add naptha and pull? Should I reduce it? How hot should I take it to reduce?

Thank you

 

[acacian]

You can either move it to a large flask as you say, or reacidify and reduce. Don't reduce when its basic.. the fumes will be unpleasant/unsafe and you'll run the risk of destroying it with the heat. Should be pretty easy to nudge the ph down to 5 or 6 with some double strength vinegar before you reduce it with heat.

If you decide to do pulls as is then you will probably want to use a higher amount of solvent to make sure it is coming into contact with the alkaloids. When using naptha you want your base solution warm.. I'd avoid hot as you'll start pulling other stuff. Actually pulling from a more diluted solution can produce nicer results.. its just a little bit more difficult to work with compared to a small volume. If your base solution is warm there is no need to heat your solvent separately.

 

[Transform]

The pH scale is logarithmic so pH 11.5 is still about 320 times weaker than pH 14. NaOH is a strong base and thus maintains quite a high pH even when considerably diluted.