benzyme said:
other things to consider:
the LSH-LSA conversion rxn is reversible
acetaldehyde is a gas at room temp
This would explain the experimental results I have experienced.
When you mix one of these mint oils with LSA solution, there is at first substantial bubbling. It would make sense that the reaction is taking place
LSA + Aldehyde ---> LSA-Aldehyde adduct
LSA-Aldehyde Adduct + Water + Ambient Temperature ---> LSA(aq) + Aldehyde(g)
When aldehydes which are liquid at room temperature are used, no bubbling occurs. But there is substantial milking of the aqueous solution when that occurs, and can't really be remedied with additional ethanol.
These observations in my own experiments has lead me to believe that a chemical reaction is taking place, and that it reverts to its starting materials until sufficient aldehyde concentration is reached to keep the reaction at equilibrium.
This is coupled with the fact that LSA is a different trip altogether from LSA+peppermint oil, which is a different trip altogether from LSA+cinnamon oil (which is about twice as potent as LSA+peppermint), and this is a different trip from LSA+benzaldehyde, and this is a different trip from LSA+vanillin (which indeed is barely tripping at all...vanillin abolishes almost all activity from LSA).
The only way to really explain my observations, apart from "aldehyde adduct formation", is that vanillin is a 5HT-receptor antagonist, and that cinnamaldehyde is a 5HT-receptor agonist, and that the various short-chain aldehydes present in peppermint are collectively 5HT-receptor agonists and vasodilators.
I am willing to accept either theory, upon presentation of evidence.
