Alternative alcohol extraction?

[VisualDistortion]

I know that ethonal extractions are fairly common and very simple. Could one extract the goodies with methanol instead? Then to the methonal containing the extract a 20% solution of tartaric acid/methonal would be added causing the tartrate salts of the goodies to crash out. Then these can be filtered in a buhcner funnel and dried. Is this plausible?

 

[benzyme]

this is indeed plausible for psilocybin.

a/b is more suitable for psilocin extraction

 

[VisualDistortion]

Is there anyway to make all the psilocin turn into psilocybin?

 

[benzyme]

well, most dried mushrooms have primarily psilocybin anyway.
the psilocin is contained within fresh cells.

i mention the a/b as an alternative, as the acidification of psilocybin, with mild heat, converts it back to psilocin via heat-assisted acid-catalyzed dephosphorylation. basification followed by extraction with a non-polar gives psilocin freebase.

to extract psilocybin, alcoholic extractions are suitable

 

[VisualDistortion]

If an A/B extraction was done, would rendering psilocin in its tartrate salt form help it resist oxidization much like tartaric acid does for LSD?

 

[benzyme]

most likely.
ascorbic acid works as well

 

[VisualDistortion]

Are absorbic acid or tartaric acid soluble in any non-polar solvents that are not miscible in water? How about this theoretical extraction

Fungus is ground up and then enough vinegar is added to cover the ground fungus

Fungus/vinegar mixture is heated to 80 degree farenheit to convert psilcybin to psilocin(Maybe more or less heat needed, I don't know, but SWIM does not want to overdo the heat)

Add sodiom carbonate for basification

Extract with non-polar solvent, most likely DCM

Add 20% solution of tartaric acid and methanol to salt out goodies

 

[benzyme]

sounds feasible. test the pH of the 20% solution, it should be around 5.

use a 70C water bath to heat the vinegar/mush slurry in another dish
take the pH to about 9 during the basification step


ascobic acid and tartaric acid are water soluble, they're not really soluble in non-polars.

 

[VisualDistortion]

But methanol is miscible in DCM right? So adding the acidic methanol to the DCM should salt out the psilocin, correct?

 

[benzyme]

in theory, yes. methanol, and water to some extent, are marginally miscible with chloroform because of hydrogen-bonding.

swim would just use conc. aqueous ascorbic or tartaric sol'n, just to be on the safe side, yield-wise.

it's also possible that psilocin might be more soluble in the dcm than in the acidic aqueous sol'n, in which case, evap the dcm, then dissolve the residue with the acidic solution, and store in an amber bottle in the fridge.

 

[antichode]

SWIM and his friends used to boil up about a hundred or so strong woodlovers with a bottle of jose cuervo for about half an hour or so, mash the mushrooms a bit and then strain the booze back into the bottle, or into many smaller bottles that could be sealed and kept for some time. The resulting booze was excellent, one shot would be enough to set you up for 6 hours or so, and it just tasted like a musty tequila, easy to get down with a little lemon and salt

 

[damiana]

VisualDistortion, did SWIY have any luck with the extraction? Has anyone gotten psilocin to crash out of a solvent other then DCM?

 

[ragabr]

Would a BLAB work for this, and then crash out with citric acid?