Butane works but no theory! A few dozen hints

In semiconductors a hole is where an electron moves from the valence band into the conduction band. They are just charge carriers with a positive charge. Generally they are not a physical thing just a hole where an electron should be.

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Define gas


Why

Then what is an exciton?

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Have you ever thought of excitons as the power source of the
biological world…?

The slow burn?

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An excitation is where an electron goes from a lower energy orbital to a higher energy orbital in an atom or in a molecule but unless it is excited to the point of being ionized it does not leave that atom/molecule. It is said to be localized.

In a metal electrons are delocalized in the valence band which is like an orbital but shared by all the atoms of the solid. The higher energy orbital is called the conduction band and it touches the valence band. Generally it takes very little energy to excite and electron from that valence band to the conduction band. In fact it happens even at hundreds of degrees below zero Celsius. This is why metals conduct electricity.

In a semiconductor the valence band and conduction band have a gap between them and the bigger the gap the more energy is needed to excite the electron to the conduction band and conduct electricity. Materials with very large gaps are called insulators. A small gap leads to a semiconductor and no gap is a metal or conductor. There are 2 types of semiconductors n-type and p-type. In an n-type semiconductor there are electrons doped into the conduction band. For instance antimony has one more valence electron than silicon so if you dope some phosphorus into silicon you are doping some of those electrons into the valence band and the semiconductor can then conduct electricity. A p-type semiconductor has holes doped into the conduction band by doping gallium which has one less valence electron than silicon. It is difficult to think about but that lack of an electron is a positive charge (hence p-type) and that hole is a charge carrier and can be conducted and move through the band exactly like an electron but in the opposite direction.

Hope that make sense.

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Yeah almost everything that happens comes down to the movement of electrons.

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It makes sense that we should start a semi-conductor manufacturing shop ASAP as the chip shortage is real as fuck.

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by the way…I am a bit aware of the quasi particle theory and representations…excitons in particular…your review is excellent.

I am not sure how the conversation on “butane works…”
got on the subject of excitons…however, a while back I do remember
somewhere on 4200 their mention with respect to chlorophyl…
and the current theory of light capture in plants…perhaps ?

Light absorption by chloroplast structures has been entirely taken over
by physical chemists , physicists and quantum people…
beyond most mortals…especially biologists.

I am still looking for someone with EDAX unit on an SEM unit.
I have a sample of chalk produced by the solventless rosin press technique…I want elemental analysis.

Have you noticed when you try to interface with academia concerning
a cannabinoid subject…and you say you consult for the business sector…
you seem to be ignored?

best regards!

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It was a rhetorical question

My original comment was about exciton a in small nano particles (magic number clusters). When a photon comes in it causes creation of an exciton, and since the energy is quantized the hole pair separation distance can be calculated and is in fact larger than the size of the metal particle.

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Yes. I did not expect it but I have been completely ignored. Or so it seems. Frustrating to say the least.

Peace!

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is that a 3D calculation or a 2D?

just curious

The separation distance would be linear (2D), and in this case larger than the diameter of the nano particle.

You might try boiling your Dowex 50 in NaOH saturated Ethanol a bit, before use…
try it you may be surprised…

Quite clearly the silica exhibits the normal Lagmuir binding isotherms you mention…
I mention the silica, because the CRC clays like bentonite are high in Silica.
Does acid washed bentonite act as an ion exchanger…? Will it acidify your
solution…? I think it all depends on the nature of your solvent (protic vs aprotic)
and effective pH of the solvent, and the nature of the solute.
I would guess that bentonites are close to “type A” silica gels.
It is a matter of how acidic the surface Si-OH groups are which controls
the extent to which they act as ion exchanges.

Just looking for some H+ ions here…

A little note on various types of silica gels:
Type A silica gels, prepared by precipitation from the
solutions of silicates, are acidic because they are polluted
with certain metals that activate surface silanol groups and
form complexes with some chelating solutes, causing
strong retention or asymmetric peaks. Type B silica gels
are formed by the aggregation of silica sols in air, contain
very low amounts of metals, and are more stable at
intermediate and higher pH values (up to at least pH 9)
than xerogel-type materials. They generally provide better
separations, especially for basic samples, because they are
highly purified, less acidic “sol-gel” spherical silica
particles [57]. At higher pH values, silanol groups are
ionized and cation exchange plays a important role in
retention, especially for positively charged basic compounds.

general review of using silica and alumina as ion exchangers:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(01)84624-0

when people use CRC to “clean up” , I really have no idea what they are doing…

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Hence “magic dirt”.

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(THC occurs mainly as its carboxylic acid — THC-COOH). Biosynthesis in the plant is understood to go as follows: the enzymatic condensation of geranyl pyrophosphate and olivetolic acid gives cannabigerolic acid which is cyclized by the enzyme THC acid synthase to give THC-COOH. Heating decarboxylates the acid to THC.

This is what I was saying at the begining of this post, I think, is that it is an acid without having to add an acid like in an acid base extraction of an alkaline which are mostly, wait for it, alkaline(or neutral)

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You are on the right thought path.
Except, both CBGA synthesis and THCA Synthase, the enzyme
Are synthesized in the cytoplasm…intracellular.
So look up what the pH of the cytoplasm is…of anything living.
Then write out the equations that tell you what
CBGA looks like at that pH. (See below)

Both the THCA synthase and GBGA (the chemical) are excreted
To the exterior of the cell…which is the capitate storage area…
This is an extracellular space. It is in the extracelluar space
Where CBGA encounters the THCA synthase enzyme and THCA
Is synthesized. X-ray Diffraction studies show that CBGA
Is loaded onto the Enzyme catalytic site as GBGA - (minus)
That is R-COO- form…and the THCA formed is THCA- (minus),
That is R-COO- form. And THCA - (minus) off loads from the
Enzyme to fall into the terp soup of the capitate storage area.

In order to get COO- (minus) to the “happy form” you are talking
About it needs a Hydronium ion, H+. So it either gets the H+
From the terp soup or it does not.

Your thought if I understand them seem to think THCA is in the R-COOH “happy form’ and that is “very simple”.

Unfortunately,
Just because “BUTANE WORKS,” it does not necessarily mean
THCA is in the “happy form” you think about.

Strictly speaking,carboxylic acids have two (or more) forms…
They are still the “acids”.
We are not talking about decarboxylation…we are talking about the “carboxylated form” and the sub forms related to being
A carboxylic acid in aqueous solution and also being soluble
Butane. These are solution variations of form…

Probably the best place to start, is understanding the Henderson Hasselbalch equation image

In your question you use the words “carboxylic acid”
And “acid” and “base.”
If you look at the top diagram you will see it describes what a carboxylic acid does in the presence of water….
It disassociates into H+ and A-.
But not all of molecules do this…see the two arrows…
It means there is an equilibrium between all

And below that relates the concentrations of A- and HA to the
Values which I assume you understand call pH and pKa.
So in order to talk about the intracellular synthesis of CBGA or Intracelluar synthesis of THC synthase we need the Henderson Hasselbalch equation as a theoretical basis for our weak acid-weak base solutions in aqueous cytoplasm.

Butane works but no theory…is all about…How is it that Cannabinoic Acids stored in Trichomes are soluble in Butane.

the pKa of THCA, the pH of the
Intracellular cytoplasm, the pH of the trichome storage area (which may be compartmentalization) and exactly what “form” the Carboxyolic acid is .

Now in order for the trichome soup to have enough H+, hydrogen ions,
To make THCA to be in its “happy form”…that is COOH , which is soluble in
Butane…the pH of the trichrome soup would have to be about 1.5.
Which is like about 50mM HCL. That is about 1000 to 10000 times more acid than your average vacuole storage space. (With caveats of course).
So this is all about the chemical environment of the THCA storage in the Plant. The above notations are based on Aqueous theory. If the vacuole storage area has sufficient terpene soup
To be considered non protic or non polar environment…
The butane discussion switches to carboxylic acid and anion solubility in non-polar solvents. This is NOT the theory expressed by Henderson Hasselbalch equation!

More recent, alternative theory which covers how we might think about cannabinoic acids and cannabinoate anions in aprotic or nonpolar solutions can be found here:

doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.202001649

Butane works: a theory of “Happy forms”
So if you let this percolate a bit in your mind…
You will begin to understand what “Butane works” is all about.

Butane works quickly and efficiently at -40C and terpenes extract along with it. So we have to assume the soluble form of cannabinoic acid/cannabinoates pre-exists in the solution chemistry of the terpene soup/storage compartment.

Either the relative pKa of the carboxylic acid is considerably higher in terpene soup (as compared with aqueous cytoplasmic value) and all THCA exists in the COOH form or the [THCA-H/THCA-] exist in a solubilized homocojugate form and it is this form which is soluble (not excluding heterologous complexes).

{{ [HA]…h-bonded…[-A] }} homoconjugate or Heteroconjugate.

Or a more supramolecular ternary ….

{{ [HA]…h…[A-]…H…OH}}. Ternary, non polar solubility complex…at -40 (terpene soup).

These forms are extractable as “” dilute solution”” in Butane…
However, upon evaporation of Butane and concentration, it would seem that some sort of supramolecular “network-solution” obtains PRIOR to crystallization .

{So precipitates out as dimer crystals after robbing water of H+ ion.}…there might be just enough water?

Solubility in Butane is not the only observation:

A. Why is THCA not crystalline in the trichome?
B. Why does THCA spontaneously crystallize from BHO?

A supramolecular network would help explain the “fast crash”
Phenomenon observed with butane contaminates that effectively work as ‘’HYDROTOPES” but in this case non-polar solutions.
The THCA crystallizations tells us the concentrated BHO environment is not the same as the original terp -soup environment.

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I was looking up something, and came across this, and recalled this thread, and remembered you asked if people added acid to make thca and I was thinking the plant did it…
I didn’t even have chemistry in higgschool(skipped 10th grade before quitting…they taught chem in 10th) so I’m not a chemist, and what little I understand is self taught or watching a dude named SWIM do various things with alkaloids from plants(like acid base) but I guess even with that rudementery knowledge, acids are water soluble not non-polar soluble…

Should have put quotes under the first part or something, I copy and pasted it when researching something else

Thca did not used to precipitate from butane like it does now, except under certain situations (temp/saturation/time)… it used to take time except for fresh frozen and it still wasn’t like it is now…

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HELL yeah. thanks for this minds-eye trip through the interior of cells and trichomes <3
my brain is savoring these delicious breadcrumbs. also i enjoy how you serve in breadcrumbs vs.spoonfuls, it seems to annoy some but we all learn more that way

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Not intentional bread crumb…
It has been an intense learning experience for me as well. Especially the carboxylate anion complexes via H bonding vs classic ionic salts/ ionic ion pairs…and keeping the transitions from cytoplasm chemistry, to “terp-solvated” to
Of all things *non polar Alkane solution…
In mind.
It is wide spectrum…I’ve learned a lot with the help thoughtful criticism here.

Butane works…it deserves an explanation.

Appreciate the note

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