Namssar G - 4-1-2014 at 06:27
Hey guys, I'm doing some medicinal extracts of cannabis for my personal use, for topical applications.
I opted for the use of methanol, because here in Spain is cheaper than ethanol without additives.
I finally Methanol recovery of oil obtained by distillation, but what I would like to know if there is any way to check if any remaining trace of
methanol.
I know the method of analysis for alcohol solutions with potassium dichromate, but maybe it's true for the extracted oil.
Do you know any method for this task?
Thanks in advance, greetings.
eidolonicaurum - 9-1-2014 at 01:21
Work out what is present in your extract, and find a chemical that reacts with methanol but not anything present in the extract. If a reaction occurs,
methanol is present.
Metacelsus - 9-1-2014 at 05:58
If only you had GC-MS . . .
hyfalcon - 9-1-2014 at 06:43
Wouldn't pulling a hard vacuum on it get rid of any leftover methanol?
violet sin - 9-1-2014 at 14:04
thats standard procedure for some. commonly used on butane based oil extracts, just use a bell jar. never personally done that though, so I don't
know first hand. but you see it all the time on youtube. another alternative, gently heat your extract in a small pan, adding just enough water float
the oil droplets, not to boiling but make sure the oil is mobile not thick. then some vigorous stirring for a couple min. you get rid of a lot of
extra crap and the methanol likes the water so it leaves. if you have a lot of extra alcohol it will often cloud the water on addition. you could
cool it till the oil solidifies and change the water. reheat and rinse again. if satisfied, collect your oil off the surface of the water while
cooling with a metal or glass poker. mechanically press/work out the residual water by folding the oil repeatedly. this seems to remove excess
alcohol/acetone not to mention some sugars and unneeded plant acids.
also if you use something like methanol for extractions it is a hot solvent and will quickly leach stuff you don't want. look into winterizing the
alcohol/oil mix. you can drop a lot of the chlorophyll in the freezer before you try to separate the oil the first time. you can make some nice
clear amber oil w/o loosing too much of the fine smells
Metacelsus - 9-1-2014 at 18:28
Removing any methanol is easier than detecting traces of it, at least to the amateur chemist. Liquid-liquid extraction is a good option, as is pulling
a vacuum. I would avoid heat, as the components of your extract could decompose.
The only extraction I have done, however, is on catnip (my cat loved me for two weeks
).
violet sin - 9-1-2014 at 22:22
that's basically what I was getting at. removing it is much easier than reliably detecting trace amounts. in the oil floating technique I mentioned,
the heat is kept LOW. I had assumed there was an azoetrope but web searches say no. methanol mixes with water in any case, so after a change or two
the minimal MeOH % can be counted gone( with adequate mixing that is). I don't *believe any component of the extract you want is destroyed at the sub
boiling temp. polymerization can occur to my knowledge(not experience). with decreased potency. but that is mainly with heat and a high surface
area accessible to open air, and the losses are minimal unless you really overcook it for too long. even then your basically just loosing your
bragging rights to above average potency and the delicate smells.
even though they sell the concentrates at pot dispensaries, production and possession are still felonies here in california. years ago the laws
were a bit more fuzzy about that as they hadn't decided to separate concentrate from bud specifically( at least in mendocino county to the best of my
knowledge). there was just a huge bust on the local news last night. 1000+ used butane cans and many many full ones. pictures of a lot of PVC
extraction tubes, a lot! they WILL prosecute you with out fail for production here regardless of Rx/recommendation or not. even if its a single
small tube for personal use only! so don't get popped for that.
recent one: http://www.paradisepost.com/ci_24871580/bcso-busts-up-honey-...
last year: http://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/localnews/story/Butte-S...
both under an hour from where I live.
*disclaimer*: I DO NOT make illegal drugs for sale or personal use. but to each their own. I just happen to love the not in jail form of life more
than,.. well most things.
-Violet Sin-