SWIM tried Ott’s tech but used DCM instead of chloroform. It was the first real tech SWIM tried for Anadenanthera. It works, but using DCM unfortunately extracts the toxins along with the bufotenine. If DCM is used, because of the toxins, the bufotenine usually won’t crystallize, and so you end up with an amber sticky mess instead of white crystals. But you can perform the 2:3 MEK:heptane method to clean up the amber goo and get actual crystals of very high purity (95%+ purity).

Bufotenine can stand low pH values all the way down to pH 1, maybe less.

Don’t let the pH go above 11. SWIM has done lots of tests on bufotenine and taking the pH too high for too long destroys it. The optimal pH for extracting bufotenine is 9.5. Any higher and you get no noticeable increase in yield. If taken to pH 12 and left sitting for a few hours, the bufotenine starts coming apart. If taken to pH 14, the bufotenine will be destroyed rapidly. It’s thought that it is transformed irreversibly into dehydrobufotenine by high pH values.