Refining DCM pulls with naphtha.

[soulfood]

Just something I stumbled upon by accident, whereas by no means a breakthrough I have a few questions on the matter.

I've noticed when I pull with DCM I get a nice big pull with mostly DMT but of course other oils, goo and such, which after evaporating still take much refining.

I just realised if I add a few drops of naphtha to my DCM, the redish discolouration falls out leaving the DMT in the solvent mix.

I've also observed that DCM and naptha when mixed in the pulling vessel will both fall below the aqueous layer as one solvent, effectively creating a mix that pulls just as well, if not better than xylene or limonene, but will evap completely in less than 6 hours.

Other than the obvious that evapping solvents is a bit wasteful and not all that environmentally friendly, are there any drawbacks to using a solvent mix of DCM and naphtha which I'm overlooking?

 

[burnt]

No there are no drawbacks. SWIM prefers a less selective non polar solvent that dissolves spice better initially. There is less need to heat and stir in hexane or naptha and do so many pulls by using other solvents. Then clean up the crude preparation with hexane.

Just be aware there is usually quite a bit of spice in the 'red' stuff. SWIM often finds you can pull at least 3-4 times with hexane to get out the majority although some will always remain you can blob the oil on something and smoke it.

 

[Shaolin]

In what proportions do you mix DCM/naphtha soulfood ?

 

[Trickster]

No there are no drawbacks. SWIM prefers a less selective non polar solvent that dissolves spice better initially. There is less need to heat and stir in hexane or naptha and do so many pulls by using other solvents. Then clean up the crude preparation with hexane.

Just be aware there is usually quite a bit of spice in the 'red' stuff. SWIM often finds you can pull at least 3-4 times with hexane to get out the majority although some will always remain you can blob the oil on something and smoke it.

Interesting. I never got to smoking that oil.

I did a few extractions like that (Methanol pre-extraction + 3xDCM pulls + 4-5x Hexane pulls). Later I simplified the process by excluding DCM and increasing the number of Hexane pulls to 6-7. The simplified tek produced somewhat higher but comparable yields (~1.1% - 1.2%). So, in my experience, using DCM makes the tek more complicated and does not improve neither yield nor the product quality. Stirring in warm Hexane for 5 min on a mag stirrer/hotplate is not much of a hassle. Also, when experimenting with intermediate DCM pulls I had to heat Hexane and stir it in for much longer to have comparable yields.

I would be very much interested in trying combined solvents tek. I presume DCM could be distilled off leaving spice-saturated Hexane for subsequent freeze-precipitation.

 

[burnt]

I should have said this before but just don't add too much naptha or you could make a 3 layer solution/ emulsion. This will make a huge mess and is a potential drawback.

 

[Trickster]

I've also observed that DCM and naptha when mixed in the pulling vessel will both fall below the aqueous layer as one solvent, effectively creating a mix that pulls just as well, if not better than xylene or limonene, but will evap completely in less than 6 hours.

Can you or anybody else provide a scientific explanation of this phenomenon?

Other than the obvious that evapping solvents is a bit wasteful and not all that environmentally friendly, are there any drawbacks to using a solvent mix of DCM and naphtha which I'm overlooking?

Why don't you distill your solvents instead of evapping them into the atmosphere?

I do not understand your intention. Are you trying to collect pure spice? Then why would you use DCM at all?

Are you trying to collect full spectrum alkaloid extract? Then why bother with Naphta?

 

[soulfood]

I've also observed that DCM and naptha when mixed in the pulling vessel will both fall below the aqueous layer as one solvent, effectively creating a mix that pulls just as well, if not better than xylene or limonene, but will evap completely in less than 6 hours.

Can you or anybody else provide a scientific explanation of this phenomenon?

It's just a case of mixing a more selective solvent with a less selective one to pull more DMT and less oils. The final product will still need refining, but it will be easier to work with.

I'm not saying this is a revolutionary way to extract, just something interesting to play with.

Why don't you distill your solvents instead of evapping them into the atmosphere?

I don't have the tools and I'm too poor to buy them

Simples.