Very curious if anyone has used caustic soda as a media for lle degumming of c02 crude? I read that caustic soda is good at removing c02 so I was thinking would it have any effect on making a c02 based concnetrate more pure? Maybe after an lle you could make a c02 concnetrate more stable…
Idk I didn’t use the search bar I’m just bored.
Nope, residual co2 really isnt a thing afaik and should be easily removed with a vacuum.
The Degumming processes which i am familiar with is an enzymatic process where you are breaking down the gums into fats and lipids, @Shadownaught came up with an effective degumming enzyme that i used on gummy stalky hemp a few years ago and boosted my % considerably.
You’d probably end up with a tough emulsion if you used sodium hydroxide
Not to mention you’d be reacting out all your acidic cannabinoids.
I don’t recommend going over pH 10 in a solution with acidic cannabinoids present, or else you’ll lose those too.
In theory you could likely saponify some fats and junk if it was decarbed though.
the use of Lye in processing oil with presence of H2O will lead to unwanted side reactions, including saponification (terp soap, which is one of the compounds found in the emulsions in the LLE). the use of Lye in the presence of alcohols may lead to condensation of carboxylic acid and alcohol. The following is the typical chemical equation for an esterification reaction:
Alcohol + Carboxylic Acid ⇔ Water + Ester
enzymes over catalysts, the enzymes are more selective, whereas catalysts conversions can lead to a greater # of side rxn
I suppose I should have clarified; if your decarbed cannabinoids were in an alkane and you were using a high pH solution at a low temperature it might be a useful cleanup step.
But yes alcohols would certainly be an inappropriate solvent to be using
I’ve pulled acidic cannabinoids with ph 12 before (on purpose).
I knew someone who says ph 10.6 is actually ideal in his process for medical grade thc-a isolate.
I haven’t tried that low to verify
No accidental conversion to the quinone?
Not too certain. I ended up with around 90% thc-a from the pull. I was just using my GC for analytics and didn’t have a standard for quinone.
I’m guessing the 10.6 fella didn’t have those issues. He’s got his master’s in Ochem or something. I’ll try getting a hold of him to see what he says.
Agreed and Seconded, Acidic cannabinoids are soluble in high ph H20. the Ideal PH depends on the cannabinoid mix i have found ph10-12. That said, Is the cost of neutralizing and removing the Base and desiccation / drying less than the cost of power, to distill a solvent. the amount of diamonds on the market, compared to THC Isolate isolated by these methods suggest the solvent systems are more efficient.
Im shipping you an LLX column next week when i get back to Wisco and i want you to start working on salting out as per the Krotov method-
I think ive owed you $1200 for like 18 months now and uhh… debts are being repaid in the order in which they occured…
Fuck 2020 and everything in it
Groovy 
I’ve heard some interesting things about pyraidine or something? I’d need to scan my texts.
Pyridine to use as an antisolvent? I’ve heard of THF.
I’m not sure if base will cleave phosphotidyl eaters, I’m guessing they are rather base stable, but what you definitely will do is saponify mono/di/triglycerides out. If you try this, be sure to do it under vac because oxygen+KOH will degrade your cannabinoids (CBD especially), you should also do an alkaline water wash because you will have a ton of free fatty acids and glycerin that are rather water soluble. Not too much stirring to avoid an emulsion!
ACN too!
Let me correct myself, there’s a handful of mechanisms that show hydrolysis of phosphate esters with a nucleophile, so you will also degum as well as saponify everything!