I was referring to the acid actually being in your d8. If you are doing an inadequate LLE to remove acid (specifically an alkaline wash), p-tolyl will co-distill because it about as volatile as cannabinoids, I hope if you’re a producer of d8 you shouldn’t be making such a mistake.
P-tolyl is very hygroscopic, so any moisture in the air will do this and with things that are desiccant or deliquescent, you need to dry them before use. Maybe you could load the acid, then dry it by heating it under vacuum, then add your CBD!
I use a saturated NaCO3 soln in water for my alkaline washes to lower the pH and I test it by running distilled water through and comparing the spent distilled water’s pH with the pH of the same water before the wash just to see if it is affected. I keep doing base washes until the pH registers the same as my distilled water (pre-wash). Is there a better way? I am very new to this so don’t hesitate to tear my process apart. I can take it XD
That sounds like adequate washing. My main concern with p-TSA is that while it is an acid, and therefore polar, it still has a sizeable organic portion and has solubility in organic solvents. Base washing until neutral is enough to say there is no residual acid. However, I know of some people who were not performing an adequate workup on their d8 and there was residual acid in the distillate, which accelerated the coloring.
Two follow ups: What is your organic solvent for doing a LLE? Are you sure there is no bicarbonate in your organic layer? Bicarbonate could be leading to an altered pH, leading to discoloration. Drying over MgSO4 or NaSO4 will pull out any residual water and salts that could be dissolved in your organic layer.
I’d recommend continued distilled water washes after your base washes. At least a couple volumes. Ph isn’t properly/easily measured on distilled water.
Any trace pH up or down will cause further isomerization