> How much tar/extracts are we talking about? Just a few grams or shitloads?
18.5 grams, which were removed and set aside.
The Shaman started down this path when he discovered that he could perform the xylene A/B extraction:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_chemistry2.shtml
- he's got a pretty primitive "kitchen" ya know - but soon realized that this procedure is woefully lacking.
He then stumbled across a poorly written, but, highly charmed procedure posted by Fu333 in this thread
http://forums.spiritplants.com/index.php?s=ab580d38f04634d010b644f80ab3cf49&act=ST&f=4&t=2499&st=0
(scroll down to see it and check out the great follow up.) It's reminiscent of other cactus extraction procedures already on the Net, but, this one feels more complete.
This is basically the procedure here:
-----
START WITH DRIED CACTUS -
STEP ONE: EXTRACTION (using methanol)
Grind up cacti to powder put in quart jar until jar is 1/2 full with ground cactus. Add enough MeOH to fill until about 2" beneath the rim of the jar. Next Add with 1-3 drops at a time VERY carefull to get the PH up to 1-2. Continue to check with your pH meter and stir with a wooden spoon or chopstick to evenly distribute the HCL Acid in the solution. continue to do the same until you fill all the cacti in the quart jars you have. so each look to have the same ratio of cacti to MeOH. next place the jars in a large pot filled with warm water on the stove so its not simmering but very hot to the touch (up to 100F is fine) Then shake/swirl gently the contents of each jar periodically over the next 36 hours.
Next loosely fit a cotton ball into your funnel over a clean quart jar a tiny bit of water so that there is a slow steady drip of about 6-9 drops a second..this will help filter MUCH of the cacti out and leave a dark green MeOH solution containing your the majority of your goodies. Do this to each jar of MeOH Cacti extract and combine the filtered jars - if you have a distillation kit distill to reclaim the MeOH, if you dont care about the environment pour it in a pyrex baking dish
and let most evaporate until you have about 300 ml dark green MeOH cacti extract concentrate. Filter this concentrated extract through the funnel same as last time store in a jar labeled 'extract #1'.
Add all cacti material from the last extractions into the jars again with same ratio of MeOH to cacti repeat the steps following that until you have a 2nd MeOH cacti extract pour that into the jar 'extract #1'. You can repeat the process one last time but you wont get hardly alkaloids you should have about 90% in your jar 'extract #1'. If you dont want to repeat a 3rd extract toss the spent cacti in a compost and then pour 'extract #1' jar into the pyrex baking dish until i evaps to about 250-300mL. Filter the 300mL MeOH contents once more through the cotton funnel (this really cuts down on emulsions).
STEP TWO: DEFATTING (USING METHYLENE CHLORIDE - dichloromethane)
Next add that to the Sep funnel (Make sure the stopper is plugged! you dont wanna lose precious M! add 60mL DCM, shake vigourously for 10-15 minutes, let settle decant orange DCM at the bottom of the funnel into a glass jar. Continue to add DCM and decant it until it is a clear color (If you do it this much your crystals will be clear! Combine all DCM removal of fats n lipids and if you dont care about the environment throw it in a concrete street, otherwise distill and reclaim your DCM.
1st pull - 60mL
2nd pull - 50ml
3rd pull - 40ml
DCM will sink to the bottom because methanol is lighter in weight so decant whats at the bottom of your sep funnel.
STEP THREE: BASIFICATION
Next step is to add NaOH/Lye slowly until a pH of 12 is read on your pH meter. Remember add small amounts and stir inbetween pH readings for utmost accuracy.
STEP FOUR: EXTRACTION OF FREE BASES
Now that you have a basified pH 12 Mescaline Freebase MeOH solution add 100 mL DCM, shake 12 minutes, decant and save the DCM that possibly will be a slight yellowish color that just means you'll get yellow xtals. Repeat DCM extract 3x each time reducing amount of DCM used by 20 mL with each successive DCM pull.
STEP FIVE: SALT FORMATION AND EXTRACTION
Combine the 3 DCM + Mescaline Freebase solution into a a clean pyrex glass baking dish. Let it evaporate if you dont care about the environment otherwise distill lazy bitchs!! Next to the white/yellow gummy fishy smelling phen freebase add 3mL sulfuric acid in 2mL distilled/purified water. Watch as streaks of needles appear after drops are added to the goo.Yes make a solution of 3mL H2SO4 and 2mL dH2O - drip this slowly with a pipette onto your fishy smelling mescaline freebase.
Get a PH Meter, it will be a salt from pH 2-3 that is fairly acidic. Purchase 31% Muriatic Acid for cleaning pavement at Home Depot. Slowly add 1-2 drops at a time via pipette of this HCL into your Cacti MeoH solution checking pH frequently until it reachs 1-3. This makes the alkaloids hcl salts. Do _NOT_ use Vinegar for this process.
STEP SIX: EVAPORATION
Let dry scrap n recrystallize with boiling IPA for nice pure clear xtals.
-----
Our Shaman is currently finishing up STEP TWO after having removed all the MeOH, replacing it with NaCl saturated dH20 - probably too much salt. This yielded 355 ml of golden honey brown liquid which is defatting in DCM for the third, and possibly final, time - the DCM is clear.
Thanks for your positive feed back.