Toluol as a non polar

[hekuni]

Hi. Im doing an extraction using acaia tenuflora. Its been a few years since Ive done this particular extraction and am going with toluol as the initial solvent.

Ive got a bunch of it in the toluol collection jar now which is about to go out to evaporate.

Im wondering what you guys experience with toluol is, if anyones used it. What the plan is, is we are going to evap the toluol, then recrystalize in naphtha.

I know that crystals wont freeze percipitate like they would in naphtha, because apearently the alkaloids are very soluble in toluol, so it stays in the solvent even when cold unlike naphtha which when cold doesnt hold the alkaloids well.

Will it form crystals if its evaporated or just a film that scrapes into sludge? WHat are your experiences with toluol

 

[benzyme]

I would get toluol in a heartbeat if it were available at a local store.
alkaloids are very soluble in it, and it evaporates easier than the next decent
alternative, xylene. DCM is also a very good solvent, but toluene has a more similar structure to most alkaloids, and thus, is a highly effective solvent (the old chem adage: like dissolves like).

let it slowly evaporate, freeze precipitation won't work.

 

[endlessness]

Or salt out your alkaloids from it. If DMT is what youre after, FASA will work great and will skip the need of any defat. Otherwise an acqueous acidic salting will work good too and will get most of the possible other alkaloids that the FASA precipitation would probably leave out. Youll just need to reconvert it back to freebase in any of the number of possible easy methods after.

 

[benzyme]

there will be a loss in potency (and yield) with repeated transfers of solute. loss in potency occurs just from converting it to a salt. just something to consider

 

[endlessness]

and you avoid having to evaporate all that toluene and can reuse it... advantages and disadvantages

 

[benzyme]

that's the great thing about toluene, you won't need much to do an extraction.
advantage.

 

[hekuni]

good replies, encouraging.

When you say there is a loss in potency, what exactly do you mean? Do you mean that the alkaloids degrade, or that there is a loss in yeild?

An alkaloid salt will yeild more in general then its freebase because its freebase doesnt have an acid attached.

I know a person who told me about this, that he would go by crack, freebase cocaine, and then salt it because as an acid or conventional cocaine the yeild would go up and he could sell it for way more then he payed for it.

Is that what you mean? due to the yeild increase there is a loss in potency gram for gram?

Personaly Ive always met with difficulty salting alkaloids, but it is a pain evapping all the solvent. Pretyy strong smelling.

 

[benzyme]

When you say there is a loss in potency, what exactly do you mean? Do you mean that the alkaloids degrade, or that there is a loss in yeild?

An alkaloid salt will yeild more in general then its freebase because its freebase doesnt have an acid attached.

exactly.

and inversely, potency is lost, because potency is a function of mass (or concentration) required to give a threshold effect. complexing an anion adds mass to the alkaloid, hence, reducing its potency. thus, by definition, a free base is more potent than a salt

 

[hekuni]

very interesting.