As far as I’ve seen THCA, CBDA, CBD, CBN, CBG all are capable of building crystalline structure…so what’s with delta-9 and delta-8 THC? What about the molecule prevents crystallization?
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Been wondering the same thing.
I believe it’s due to the fact that D8/D9 THC still have a oxidation step that is finalized as CBN.
You can crystallize THC with one aryl sulfonyl chloride in the presence of at least one tertiary amine.
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Theres a good discussion on this subject in this thread I linked. The molecules cannot form a repeating crystal structure when the acid group isnt present. I read someone say these decarboxylated cannabinoids can have a sugar moiety added onto them to allow for a route of isolation via crystallization.
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I believe the OH from the carboxylic acid is whats allowing the crystallization. Bigger brains can break it down for you.
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Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure if I can completely accept the OH from the carboxylic acid group a the key to crystallizing or no… reason being, CBD doesn’t have the group, neither does CBN or CBG. Maybe I’m mistaken that CBN and CBG are actually crystalline as an isolate?
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I’ve seen either cbn or cbg isolate posted here and it was a white powder. I believe it was also said that it does crystallize
Found this in my notes… “Cannabinoid acids can crystallize, but many cannabinoids, including THC, cannot. CBD is one exception because it has 2 OH groups that can interact (hydrogen bond) with OH groups on other CBD molecules. THC, on the other hand, only has one OH group, so it can only hydrogen bond to one other THC, making a dimer. The carboxylic acid group on THCa acts as a 2nd functional site on the molecule, allowing crystal lattices to grow, similar to the way CBD’s 2 OH groups allow crystal growth.” I Really wish i could give proper credit here as I didnt write this, I want to say it was @Photon_noir but it was a long time ago.
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This theory seems contradicted by the fact people are reporting d10 to readily crystallize.
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Who has a ∆10 standard to confirm thats what is crystallizing?
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No one has the standards
We have a 96%pure product though confirmed through NMR and such. @extractepic is writing white paper on it
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Great work! thanks for the pics. Looking forward to the paper.
We have a standard that we will be releasing shortly to the California market. Confirmed through HPLC, GCMS, and NMR, 99.6% d-10 and remaining impurity is d-9. Next batch should be even higher purity.
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You’ve finally found someone to make the standard?!
Dude so excited for this
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Excellent info. Thanks for replying!
What you wrote makes sense. I’m still trying to confirm without doubt that CBN also crystallizes. If it does, as I believe it does, then the multiple hydroxyl group theory to crystallization is still missing something.
The idea that D10 THC will crystallize, as someone had replied, is very interesting. If that’s correct, then the subtle difference between D10 and other THC isomers might have part of the answer.
Thanks again!
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Multiple functional groups could be a contributing factor but crystallization is dictated by more subtle factors than just that. Polythethylene forms crystalline regions and it has no functional groups at all. Size and shape play roles as well. There have probably been hundreds of papers written on this topic. I admit I’m not an expert
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3 different forms of d10,
The yellow stuff is a mix of d10/with some d8 and d9 with terpes added, the reddish stuff is an 85% pure d10 extract with a little d9 and d8 in there. The small white rocky looking stuff is 96%pure d10 with a little d9.
@extractepic has gotten over 99% now, they’re working on growing a large enough crystal for x ray crystal analysis.
Last thing he needs for the white paper!!!
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Do you have a source?