Does anyone from the UK know any products sold in general hardware shops containing NaOH or an acid (obviously not in the same product) suitable for plant extractions. I have looked quite alot already for an NaOH containing sink unblocker such as lye but have so far been unsuccessful - all i have managed to find Soda crystals containing NaCO3 (would using a different strong base have the same results or is it best avoided? - can't remember just now if NaCO3 is strong or weak...weak i think). Also...does purity matter..ie:does the product have to 100% NaOH?
As for an acid i have had even less 'luck, I usualy just end up lost.

cheers
Dr gonzo.

"when the going gets wierd the wierd turn pro". H.S.T

Can't think of any off-hand, i'll get back 2 you 2morrow with some product names in the u.k!!

the truth is... what solvent you want depends on what your extracting exactly. let me know what your doing and i will let you know what you need and where to get it

Of course this is only for hypothetical educational purposes.
mainly very small scale plant extractions from Psychotria Viridis for DMT and Trichocerues Peruvianus for Mescaline. These, from what i have read sound reasonably simple - I am no rocket scientist (also no ardvaark - Higher Chemistry is my realm?!)

thanking you kindly

Dr Gonzo

"when the going gets wierd, the wierd turn pro"

Ok check it out. Here is a good extract method for the DMT.....I would highly recomend using the suggested solvents for high yeilds. I wont post sources or anything up here so your free to email me and i will send you the sources.
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Yoda's DMT Extraction Action

There are basically two steps a) extraction of the alkaloids from the plant material b) conversion of the alkaloid salts to freebase. Additional processes to purify the material will also be suggested. These instructions apply generally to all plant sources, but the author recommends mimosa hostilis root bark or desmanthus rootbark as the best sources.Not bark,not roots, but root bark.


Required Materials...

acid- .1N HCl, or muriatic acid (11% HCl) from hardware store,diluted to pH 1 with water {add acid to small amount of water,keep adding acid till pH is 1} base- NaOH, or Lye (such as Red Devil brand) nonpolar solvent- petroleum ether or dichloromethane, or "naptha", available OTC in several similar forms (Coleman fuel,Zippo lighter fluid) pH meter or papers (a meter is HIGHLY recommended,as the solutions are very strongly colored,making papers difficult to read). (Can't find pH papers? Try homebrew shops, "Science"stores {look in the yellow pages-there are like 3 in my area that sell high school science fair type things},pool and spa stores,hydroponic stores) separatory funnel-buy,beg,borrow or steal one,it'll make things WAY easier and more efficient.If you must substitute,there are 2 options: a) a jar and a turkey baster (or pipet and bulb,or large syringe) b) a ziplock bag a few extra jars-with lids,very clean


Extraction from Plant Material...

Pulverize material thoroughly.A coffee grinder is perfect for this. Place in jar,cover with acid.This acid is pretty strong. It could seriously damage your eyes.Gloves and glasses are recommended,as is caution. Shake jar several times a day,for one week. Filter out the acid. A vacuum setup with pump or faucet aspirator is best.A coffee filter may work,but slowly.Straining through a tea strainer first may help. Reserve acid in a separate jar,return plant material to original jar. Cover with fresh acid,shake a few times a day for 1-2 more days. Filter out acid,and combine with first extract. Optionally,extract a third time with fresh acid for an additional day or two. The acid now contains the tryptamines,in their salt form. {OPTIONAL} Defat.Since the salts in this acid solution are not soluble in nonpolar solvents,this allows the opportunity of removing some unwanted compounds.The separation process will be described in more detail below-if defatting is done,it is the same basic process:add nonpolar solvent,shake well,separate and discard the NONPOLAR layer.


Seperation and Isolation...

The next step is to form the freebase alkaloid.This is done by adding a strong base:NaOH.The freebase thus formed is not soluble in polar solvents,such as the acid water mix,but is in nonpolar ones. Slowly add NaOH to the acid solution-it can be added dry.NaOH is very caustic-use gloves and eye protection.Add very slowly-1/8 tsp or so at a time.Gently swirl to mix and dissolve it. If too much is added at once,it may boil and spatter,and you will probably overshoot the mark.Continue adding until pH 11-12 is obtained.This may be difficult to determine with papers.Freebase is often visible coming out of solution.The solution will change color as it becomes more basic-it will probably wind up brownish-green,depending on the starting material.Allow the solution to cool to room temperature before proceding (IMPORTANT)

If using a sep funnel,add the basified solution.Or put it into a tallish jar.Whichever,only fill it about 1/3 full.Now add an equal volume of nonpolar solvent.Note that DCM will sink,most others will float.This will become crucial shortly,so pay attention as you add it.Stopper the container and shake it.Especially at first,vent the container occaisionally to relieve any pressure.Shake the hell out of it.Let it sit a few minutes,then shake some more.Repeat several times over the period of a couple hours. What you see next will depend on your choice of plant and solvent,but a likely scenario is that there are 3 layers,the middle of which is sort of foamy.This is called an emulsion-when imiscable liquids sort of mix. The emulsion layer can cause problems-there might be goodies tied up in it,but they will be harder to isolate. What we'd like to see is 2 well defined layers with little or no emulsion.The first and best way to achieve this is simply wait.When you're done shaking,you may see ONLY emulsion,but it will soon start to resolve.Waiting overnight is often required for good resolution.The pH you basified too has a big influence on this ,but the best pH will vary with different ingredients. If you patiently waited,and it still won't resolve,there are a few tricks.Add more nonpolar solvent,shake a bit,continue waiting.Or put a straight wire in and break up the emulsion.You can chase down any leftover blobs that are stuck and they will usually migrate to the proper layers.The container must be scrupiously clean.If there was,for example,an oily smudge on the side in the area that should contain the polar layer,then nonpolar gunk may stick there where you don't want it.As a last resort add some salty water (not so salty that the salt won't all dissolve),and agitate again.This makes the polar layer MORE polar,and may do the trick. First,though,just be patient and it will hopefully separate just fine.

We now want to remove the nonpolar solvent,which contains the dissolved freebase.If you have a sep funnel.it's a piece of cake,as long as you remember which layer is which.(Don't forget to remove the stopper before you start draining).You want JUST the nonpolar layer at this stage-any emulsion should stay with the polar layer.

If you are using a jar,then regardless of which layer you want to keep,I'd advise removing the top layer,rather than trying to reach through and draw off the layer beneath it.A syringe,pipet and bulb,or baster may be used.DO NOT SUCK WITH YOUR MOUTH!-these solvents are poison! Test any non-glass items with a little plain solvent first to make sure they wont melt.

Another option,again provided it is compatible with your solvent,is a large (new) ziplock bag.Fill,seal,shake,and hang it up so that one of the non zipper corners is at the bottom.Have an extra jar ready.Pinch the corner almost at the bottom,then poke a hole or snip off a very tiny bit.Using your fingers as a clamp,drain each layer into a separate container.

Whichever method you use,put aside the separated nonpolar layer.Add fresh solvent to the remaining polar layer.Shake,separate,and combine the nonpolar fractions. I'd recommend keeping ALL the layers (separately) untill you're sure everything went OK.

Before going further,I'd suggest taking a bit of the collected nonpolar solvent,say 5-10%,and letting it evaporate on a small glass dish.This will give you an indication of how clean your product is.If you're lucky,you'll wind up with a dish of crystalls,and you can go ahead and evaporate the rest.Often you'll get a thin layer of oil once the solvent evaporates.This may take a day or 3 to start to crystallize.If nothing is happening,or it is especially gunky,you have 2 options.(And you might consider a defatting step next time you try with the same materials). If you are POSITIVE that your solvent will cleanly evaporate (test some in a dish to be sure),then your product,though gunky,is probably OK. Perhaps some water or emulsion layer got carried over into the nonpolar layer.It can still be smoked,either like hash oil,or dissolve it in alcohol or nonpolar solvent,add a little of your favorite herb,mix well and let the solvent evaporate.

Option 2 is cleaning and purification.To do this,you wash it with whatever solvent the DMT WONT dissolve in.A thourough cleaning would involve (starting with the freebase dissolved in nonploar solvent): Add equal volume of salt water,agitate,separate,discard the water layer. Add HCl/water to the nonpolar layer,agitate,separate,discard nonpolar layer. You just converted the freebase to a salt,DMT HCl,which is water soluble.{Optionally,wash with fresh nonpolar solvent,then discard it}.Rebasify,and extract back to nonpolar solvent like you did in the first place. This is not always necessary,but if you want to get it really clean you can.

Whatever you wind up with,remember this: this process is fairly specific for alkaloids in general,not just nnDMT.If you used phalaris,you'll have mostly 5MeODMT,which is 4-5 times more potent by weight.If your plant containe bufotenine,then you extracted that too.Large amounts of nonactive tryptamines (such as NMT) will make you product weaker.Always assay cautiously-start with a ridiculously small amount,especially if you don't have a good scale.

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Note: Chemhead does NOT recommend you to try DMT that has not been pre-weighed on a digital scale to the recommended dose. It is such a small amount that it is way to dangerous to just guess or estimate the weight of the doseage.
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Ok and now here is an older a/b for cactus. this is not the BEST method but it works well. once again.. use the recomended solvents for optimal yeilds...email me if you still need sources.
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Mescaline from San Pedro Cactus

For those that dont know, Mescaline is found in over 40 different species of cacti(one of which being the famous peyote), some of which contain more than others. We will be dealing with Trichocereus Pachanoi, or the San Pedro Cactus, because it contains the highest percentage of mescaline, second to peyote. The San pedro cactus is a completely legal ornamental cactus which can often be purchased from your local nursery. You could simply eat the cactus and trip, but its the most fuckin nasty thing you will ever taste. So, i will tell you how to extract pure mescaline, which can be snorted, smoked, or eaten, from the cactus. All of the chemicals needed are easy to aquire, and will arouse no suspicion, a kilo of dried cactus is needed, but can often be aquired for very cheap prices if you look around a bit(5+dollars). From this you can extract anywhere from 3 to 15 grams of pure mescaline, depending on the cactus, which goes for around 20 or 30 a gram.


Ingredients...
dried, ground trichocereus pachanoi
sodium hydroxide (lye)
benzene
sulfuric acid
activated charcoal (Norite)
ammonia
distilled water
Preparation:
1. With the sulfuric acid, make a solution of 2 parts acid, 1 part water. Store in a stoppered glass beaker.
2. With the ammonia, make a solution of 1 part ammonia, 9 parts water
Method:
1. Grind 1 kilo of trichocereus pachanoi, place in a pressure cooker.
2. Cover with water & boil for 30 minutes.
3. Strain & save the liquid.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 with cactus pulp until it no longer has a bitter taste (around 5 re-boilings). Combine all of the strainings together
5. Discard pulp.
6. Reduce the volume of the combined strainings by boiling in an open pot until it attains the consitency of cream (around 1 quart).
7. Stop boiling & stir in 400 grams of sodium hydroxide.
8. Pour into separatory funnel & add 1600mL of benzene.
9. Shake funnel well for 5 minutes & let stand for 2 hours.
10. Drain off the water and emulsion layer. Place aside. (benzene is top layer, emulsion is middle layer, water is bottom layer)
11. Add 25 drops of sulfuric acid solution, one drop at a time, to the benzene extracts. Stopper the jug and shake well for 1 minute.
12. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until white streaks of mescaline sulfate begin to appear.
13. Add 25 drops of acid, shake for 1 minute, let stand for 10 minutes.
14. Add 15 drops of acid, shake for 1 minute, let stand for 15 minutes.
15. Add 10 drops of acid, shake for 1 minute, let stand for 30 minutes.
16. Test pH level, it should be between 7.5 & 8.
17. Allow mescaline to completely precipitate.
18. Siphon off as much as the benzene as possible without disturbing the crystals on the bottom of the jug.
19. Stopper the jug with the precipitate/residual benzene in it & place aside.
The next step is to get all of the mescaline out of the water & emulsion layer.
20. Combine the benzene siphonings with the water & emulsion layer.
21. Repeat steps 10-19.
22. Recombine the benzene siphonings with the water & emulsion layer. Repeat the process of extracting the mescaline from the water & emulsion layer until no more crystals precipitate.
23. Place the precipitate/residual benzene in a beaker. Evaporate the benzene by placing the beaker in a heat bath.
The next step is to purify the mescaline sulfate crystals.
24. Dissolve the dried crystals in 200 mL of near boiling water. Add a pinch of charcoal & filter while still hot through a number 2 filter.
25. Pour more hot water over the filter to rinse any crystals stuck in the paper through.
26. Adjust the pH to between 6.5 & 7 by adding the ammonia a few drops at a time.
27. Place a boiling stone in the solution & reduce to 75 mL by boiling.
28. Remove the boiling stone & let the solution cool to room temperature.
29. Place the solution in the freezer until its almost frozen.
30. Break up the crystals that have formed in the ice water with a glass stirring rod.
31. While still ice cold, pour through a filter.
32. Rinse beaker with ice water & pour over filter.
33. Dry crystals in oven at 250 F. or under a heat lamp.
The next step is to remove any mescaline left in the filtered ice water.
34. Boil ice water down to 20 mL.
35. Add charcoal while hot.
36. Pour through #2 filter.
37. Chill to near freezing.
38. Break up crystals.
39. Filter while cold.
40. Rinse beaker with ice water and pour over filter.
41. Dry crystals.
42. Repeat steps 34-41 until all of the mescaline is extracted.

You should now have pure white mescaline crystals. Be safe and Enjoy! Remember, use only distilled water, & use nothing made of aluminum.

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let it be known that even though this says it will produce PURE mescaline, it will not. It still contains other psychadelic compounds containing MAINLY mescaline.

[This message has been edited by acidmelt (edited 04-18-2002).]

I had already come across those synths on your angelfire site but thanks very much none the less. One thing though...are these suitable extraction methods for low yields - I'm not wanting to get into that shit.

I live in the country (ie: small town syndrome) and only have one local hardware store which already doesn't really like me after about 4 years of me randomly coming in asking for a few inches of hose-pipe so I try and not browse to much as to arose little suspicion.....its not as if many 18 year olds are avid horticulturalists/d.i.y fans and spend hours browsing hardware shop shelves.

Dr gonzo

[This message has been edited by Dr_gonzo (edited 04-18-2002).]

Dr Gonzo - A fellow Scot? The worlds a small place. I'm in Falkirk so if you ever need anything...

Bit off topic but you'v got urselves a decendent of the macloud clan here.... either of yah willin to ship me over a case of Irn-Bru?

Oh browse the shelves the looks you get are priceless.

Irn Bru is lush....

Ship over a crate? That'll cost a fortune - I'll send you a can. (Straight from the bottling plant - I know someone thsat works there)

Jesus Christ Acid.! That was a shitload of typing Bro.!!! lol! Since I "two-finger" my typing, due to not taking typing in High School, I'd of had to of done that above in three to four goes!! lol!! But you hooked him up on the "411" I'd say. Like you said you would.

Damn right its lush, you can't beat the stuff for non-alcoholic carbonated refreshment.

Dr_gonzo

Yah me mum gave my last can away to a carpenter workin here like last fall although when I found out he was from Ireland I believe it was and was ECSTATIC to have some Irn Bru It did make me feel a little better. Can you still get the Candy bars? I heard those were being phased out.

Man I fuckin worked at the Irn Bru bar factory for about two weeks. No shit.
They still make them and I could get them to supply a shop near you if they wanted enough.

Damn right they still make them...there a standard part of any self-respecting students diet costing only 10p :):) and taking at least half an hour to eat thus reducing the cost of munchies ;)

Dr_gonzo

So is Zippo fuel petroleum ether? I'm never sure with so many of these containers just saying: 'contains petroleum distilates'.

NaOH is caustic soda in ANY large (and most small) DIY stores, and HCl is 'patio cleaner' or something similar in just about any large DIY store in the UK.

Being less tired now (revising late last night), I think Zippo fuel is naptha, but if something says it contains petroleum distilates could that mean petroleum ether?

its naptha