Acetone crystallization of THC-A

Are you doing small batches, problems pouring them off easy usually comes with that or if you didn’t get at least partial dewax by getting negative temps like-25 to -55f…

In my experience those 2 things can make it harder, not enough it doesn’t wanna really let go all the way, I have to do a pour, then scrap all out sometimes on to PTFE, let sit jarred about week making cup out paper, leaves sides open scrape to middle in pile, rest slides out, scrap off if a must, btw your crystals are way more resilient than the terpenes in a sentence you can just throw them in the vacuum chamber or vacuum oven for The Purge if you can’t get them all off it won’t hurt him at all I’ve done that plenty of times

And if you didn’t get cold enough to lock up most the plant matter then the plant wax makes the Terps SUPER thick and sticky (harder to scrap up even off PTFE) getting cold enough they scrap right up bc hardly any plant wax

I can verify this can happen. I achieved it using 95% organic grape alcohol. I found this to be a safer and less expensive method.

Discovered a kg of crystallized CDB (fully decarbed) in the fridge today. minion left too much Ethanol in there would be my guess.

Thanks! It’s on the list…

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This is an amazing useful conversation! Thank you all for your contributions!

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Distillate is decarbed and hence won’t form a crystal structure is sstays as a very viscous oil. You need acidic THCA to form diamonds as it will form a crystal structure

which is why folks keep suggesting this particular rabbit hole…

the general consensus is that while it is possible, it probably isn’t particularly practical. The most logical path seems to be to crystallize early rather than late.

Edit: exactly what @skankhunt420 says below…

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What a massive effort once the ‘a’ is gone forget about it hahaha. I just don’t understand the logic of trying to turn distillate back to THCA. There has been so much processing post extraction to make the distillate; to then process it more to convert it back to its original form in the extract is much more convoluted and complex than seperation the THCA directly from the raw extract.

If the motivation for this process of THC back to THCA is all about purity then recrystallise initially extracted THCA xtals a couple times and voila! most likely +90% acidic cannabinoid crystals yayayayayay

Even though I don’t understand the logic of wanting to perform the processs I am interested in the chem of the process once someone dials it in :3

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What is the proper ratio of shatter to acetone I have like 150 grams of really terpy sugary product I would like to use. I don’t have a rotovap but could I vent the top of my jars instead?

I have had only limited success so far, but I see a bit of crystals it seems. It was a very dark ethanol extract I used that I dissolved in warm acetone, basically equal volumes. Sucks to use too dark of an extract cause you can’t see clearly through the solution. I don’t understand why you would use a terpy product and add acetone to it though, seems like a loss to me…

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Anyone here tried mixing in other solvents? Does anyone add water?

I want to make stable temperature gradient generated crystals rather than long slow recrystallization… had very limited success with acetone and water mixed…

Thanks for all of the great info!
I am new to this and this was my first time attempting to make crystals. I was successful by using these steps and was able to make a nice batch of crystals.

Even though i am very happy with what i got i am now wondering if i shouldnt have used Acetone. What is the best way to purge out the remaining Acetone in the crystals and also the terp sauce? Thanks in advance!

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Cold boil under vacuum is the best way to purge any solvent as it reduces the temp required to remove solvent and thus protects thermally labile compounds. This will also reduce the boiling point of terpenes so there is a balance between evaporating solvent and evaporating terpenes!

As for the crystals themselves they are very stable and should withstand deep vacuum to purge. Although this will not help remove any solvent trapped in the lattice structure. To remove trapped solvent from the crystals a recrystallisation is neccessary.

The terp fraction will be more sensitive to vacuum as you risk boiling off the terps. Still cold boil under vacuum to purge but be careful of temps and how deep you pull the vacuum.

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Thank you very much for your advice, I very much appreciate it. Onto the next steps!

Is this method safe for consumption after purging?
Just curious I haven’t ever heard of it till here

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Only way to find out is for someone to do the analytical chemistry to find out. I would love to do tests for residual solvents on diamonds made from different solvent methods but I do not have the resources :frowning: But I’m sure someone on here has a GCMS and the means to test it out. Would be interesting to see the differences of residual solvents in large crystals between the classic OTSS hydrocarbon tek and this acetone tek.

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I was told simple residual test isn’t that much…I just don’t live in the CA area where is done lil cheaper…

Hell I’d pay to have some tested and some my simple sugar sauce method tested for residuals…I think it would pass for sure… Just need someone to recieve the package and take it down there for me lol… Or maybe next vacation lmao

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Seriously?! Not cool. Vaping EtOH has shown some negative side effects in studies, if I remember correctly. Too lazy to search and cite my claim.

Colorado has a <1000 ppm limit.

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I too am from a place we’re testing is not available due to law :frowning:

And it would make sense that it isn’t too expensive as testing for residuals is easy it’s quantifying cannabinoids and terps that’s tricky to my knowledge.

I was vocal in meetings with regulators that it was a stupid** move.

When residual solvent testing was first implemented, there was a limit. 5000ppm. (rumor has it that) all the CO2 guys failed their first try. then bitched so hard that the limit was removed. based on the federal guideline that any amount was ok, so long as it is called out. they actually removed ALL alcohols from testing for a month or four. then restored MeOH, IsoP-OH and Butanol, but left EtOH off the list. I suggested 500ppm for inhalables based on the data you (almost) cite.

these are the same clowns that defined CO2 as a hydrocarbon.

this 2016 document lists 5000ppm.
https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/PreventionWellness/marijuana/Documents/oha-8964-technical-report-marijuana-contaminant-testing.pdf
this 2017 document lists no limit.
https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/DISEASESCONDITIONS/CHRONICDISEASE/MEDICALMARIJUANAPROGRAM/Documents/rules/333-007-0410-Exhibit-A-eff-05-31-17.pdf

many labs still test for it. 500ppm is easily achievable, and my go to target.

They also managed to tangle up tinctures for 6-8 months if I recall correctly. they were permitted, and defined as “alcohol, cannabionoids, and maybe other ingredients”, but the rules clearly stated they needed to test below 5000ppm EtOH in order to be sold. unclear on the concept…

** I have proposed fixes for stupid on more than one occasion, but I’m no longer convinced that infectious gene-drive style IQ gains would actually solve the problem.

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Ooof, hard to argue with people so sure of their ignorance.

Crazy to hear they were having so much trouble clearing 5000. Deeper vac!

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