| Mescalin Extraction |
Alex
Member
Posted on 02 Sep 2002 at 10:58.11
AM
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Hi
Does anyone know if it's possible
to extract mescalin from cacti as I've heard that the effects of
pure mescalin are different to those caused by eating the cacti due
to the multiple other alkaloids in the cacti.
The cacti I'm
working with is San Pedro.
Alex
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| Re: Mescalin Extraction |
Avalokita
Member
Located in Buckinghamshire
User since
04 Sep 2002 - 20 posts
Posted on 05 Sep 2002 at 01:58.46
AM
|
You can make a simple extraction of the
dried cactus into 95% ethanol. This will contain lots of alkaloids
as well as mescaline, and the experience will be more like using the
whole cactus rather than using mescaline by itself. This will look
like a black tar, but it is the best way of extracting Mescaline
before the acid to base to acid extraction.
If you want to
purify this then you will need quite a lot of chemistry equipment,
and pure solvents and acids. Its worth buying Trout’s Notes on
Mescaline, because this has the most detailed extraction procedures
in it. However Chloroform would probably be the best solvent to use.
Trout’s notes say that “benzene works great”, but benzene is highly
toxic. Xylene forms a vigorous emulsions so easily that I don’t
recommend it for any alkaloid extract, and I’ve felt worse from
Xylene fumes than from any other solvent. He also says that
Methylene chloride or Toluene should also work, but he has not tried
them. Methylene chloride is so volatile, that it is only really good
for the final extraction before distillation from an already
purified basic solution. I have no experience with Chloroform so I
don’t know if it would form a vigorous emulsion or not you would
really need to be able to test it and Toluene to know for
sure.
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| Re: Mescalin Extraction |
mescalito
Member
Located in England
User since 24 Aug
2002 - 18 posts
Posted on 07 Sep 2002 at 11:31.09
PM
|
Avalokita, id be interested in the full
procedure for this simple ethanol extraction, where can i get
ethanol?
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| Re: Mescalin Extraction |
Avalokita
Member
Located in Buckinghamshire
User since
04 Sep 2002 - 20 posts
Posted on 20 Sep 2002 at 05:59.27
AM
|
The short answer to how to do the
procedure for the cactus ethanol extraction is, “I don’t know, I
haven’t done it yet.”
The long answer is it really depends on
what’s in your chemistry kit. Ideally you would cover the dried and
powdered cactus 2 or 3 times over with ethanol and ideally reflux it
(boil it with the escaping solvent being condensed and dripping
directly back into the flask). Do this for 30 minutes, then let it
settle until all the powder has dropped back down. Then siphon off
the ethanol from the cactus powder, filter it, and distil most of it
off until the liquid has almost started to get thick, but is still
very fluid. Then remove the ethanol and put this in a Pyrex bowl.
Add a bit of hydrochloric acid, (maybe 5 ml. of 36% for each 60 ml.
of ethanol), and put the bowl on a steam bath, with a fan blowing
into it until all the ethanol has evaporated. Repeat this until
after heating the ethanol with the cactus, the ethanol stays very
light coloured, or even colourless.
I haven’t done this yet,
so I don’t really know all the mechanics of it, or if the extract
would be a black gungy tar that sticks to everything and is
impossible to use with out further purification or not. It might be
better to add the acid to the ethanol before heating it, but this
might make the mescaline degrade, I don’t know one way or the other.
However I did see a science program on BBC2 where there were
scientists out on a desert island. They had to make a device for
cooling water, and something to measure it. Anyways, they heated rum
and battery acid (ethanol and sulphuric acid) and distilled off the
ether that was produced. So whatever you do, don’t use sulphuric
acid in combination with ethanol, not unless you don’t mind
explosions.
Oh, and in England you can’t buy 95% ethanol
anywhere except chemical supply companies, and you need a licence to
distil ethanol. So you would probably be best off distilling your
own from homemade sugar wine, and not telling anyone. You need to
distil it 3 times to get it that pure. If your distillation
equipment has a thermometer, you’ll be able to see when all the
methanol has distilled off. If not, then the ethanol will also have
small amounts of methanol in it, and it won’t be drinkable, even if
you dilute it down.
Hope this helps
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The current forum time is 13 Oct 2002
11:20.47 AM
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