Here is how it looks to pull alpha pinene out of raw crude through an aluminum oxide (alumina) column. This is a sort of reverse phase chromatography method in which a gradient of water to methanol was used. Starting with a 50/50 methanol to water over an alumina column prewetted with water will stop most of the cannabinoids but will pass copious amounts of terpenes present. Then increasing the methanol to 100% a little at a time will bring the brown cannabinoid fraction through.
There IS cannabinoid in the milk white water. Partly because the way the column was loaded wet with crude dissolved in pure methanol. A bit sneaks through that way. It goes into the freezer and within an hour all cannabinoid drops out of solution and the water turns chalk white and is poured off. Then everything is combined and evaporated waiting for the next step which will be DCVC through silica gel 60. Shown also are the dishes used to disolve the extract in methanol and one still has a bit left to be loaded. It shows starting color.
