I tried to extract the alkaloids from Mimosa Hostilis. (by Yoda's method)
I ended up with what should be the solvent (DCM) with alkaloids, but was a dark brown almost black thick muddy substanse, I don't know where it went wrong.
I started putting the crushed rootbark in an acid solution of pH 1, it was there for 4 days, the filtred bark was put in a new acid solution for about 10 days. I combined the two filtred solutions.
I've read that it was best to do a defat process as it would make crystals rather that an oily gel substans.
So i added the acid solution in my sep funnel, poured about 5-10 mL DCM within. Shaked and waited a few minutes.
Whats wrong ? I thought.
The DCM at the buttom was not clear but was thick an fatty. So my guess was that it probably was fat and i discarded it, and added more DCM, it was the same result. My conclusion : That how we do a defat.
So i made it alkaline with NaOH lye, my indicator strips, was miscoloured as the solution had become almost black, and i wished that i had bought a pH meter too. Well i stopped when i was almost sure with a pH 11.
I'm not sure but i think the solution was room temerature when i added it to my sep funnel.
I continued adding an equal volume of DCM in the funnel, shaked, shaked, and shaked. I took a nap, and went back couple of hours later, what i saw was the alkaline solution on top, and the layer below was the muddy substanse which i discarded at the tragic ending.
I really hope someone could tell where i went wrong, cause i have about 200mL acid with tryptamines (hopefully) left.
-Methrix