• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

Why do Yopo alkaloids smell like ammonia after reacting with lime?

Migrated topic.

69ron

Rising Star
SWIM has been extracting alkaloids from Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) and Vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina) for several years.

Every so often SWIM plays around with his highly refined extracted alkaloids (double A/B extracted). He noticed that if he mixes the freebase alkaloids (a mix of bufotenine, bufotenine N-Oxide, DMT, DMT N-Oxide, etc.) with lime (calcium hydroxide) and a little water, in attempts to make concentrated snuff similar to Yopo, that the smell of ammonia is generated after mixing it for about 30 minutes or so. WHY?

If SWIM uses sodium carbonate instead of lime, there is no smell of ammonia. WHY?

What is the ammonia coming from? Also SWIM notices that the color of the alkaloid mix changes from the typical amber color to dark greenish brown. This also doesn't happen if SWIM uses sodium carbonate instead. Obviously the ammonia being released is from some sort of chemical reaction with the lime and this is also leading to a color change. The alkaloids are already freebase alkaloids prior to adding the lime, so this has nothing to do with freebasing the alkaloids.

What exactly is the lime doing to the alkaloids that is causing the release of ammonia gas? Does anyone know? SWIM doesn’t understand where the ammonia could possibility be coming form. When SWIM mixes lime and water with DMT, there is no such smell of ammonia. Does this smell of ammonia mean that one of the alkaloids are coming apart and releasing ammonia?
 
Back
Top Bottom