So I've wanted to start this for a while, but real life kicked in. From all the various extraction teks out there, they all share the same principle. But there are variations in each step. How long to acidify? Hot solvent or warm solvent? How cold does the freezer need to be? How long do I freeze it for? Every step of the extraction will be analysed, with everyone chipping in with their data (either data in the literature or their own experiments).

The goal is to make a new collaborative and definitive extraction tek, for 2 reasons. Firstly it will, hopefully, improve the quality of extractions and to fully understand the logic behind each step, and secondly it should be written in a way that even a newbie (without any chemistry knowledge) can understand. I aim to put in some basic chemistry info in a separate section too (such as what is solubilities, what is an acid and a base, theory of precipitation etc). If this project is successful, then a revised STB extraction tek would be nice too. I hope the authors don't mind me picking their teks to shreds. If any author objects, please feel free to let me know, and I'll remove your tek from this analysis.


NOTE: According to the Nexus wiki, the Lextek method displays this warning "DO NOT USE THIS TEK FOR ACACIA EXTRACTION!." Any clarification on this would be nice.

YELLOW TEXT means facts that need to be revised and made consistent.

RED TEXT means comments added by users.

ORANGE TEXT means section needs to be fact checked, with references

1) Bark Preparation

There are no variations here, everyone is saying powdered bark. In chemistry, greater surface area results in greater reaction rate.

1.1) Freeze Thawing the Plant Material

Overall Comments:

1) Filtered water is preferable to tap water. "Water filters should hardly change ionic strength and if they do, the ionic strength will likely be smaller after filtering, not bigger." - Pitubo
2) Freeze thawing seems to be advantageous. "As I understand it, the freezing also causes microscopic needles of ice to grow and cut cell walls and other structures." - Pitubo
3) Microwaving appears to be another approach to lysing the plant cells. "You make no mention of microwaving the plant material to rupture cell structures. Some time ago there was some discussion about the use of microwaves in extractions. Did anybody attempt practical research in this area yet?" - Pitubo

Max Ion

"i. Cover your plant material with filtered water. {Preferably powdered but with as much surface area as possible}
The ionic strength is then certain to be higher inside the cells and they will absorb a lot more of the water by diffusion. Filtered water has a higher ionic strength than other types.
ii. Heat this mixture lightly for about an hour
This is to soften the cell walls and allow for maximum water build up inside the cell walls.
iii.This is then to be frozen and thawed several times.(x3)
This will cause the already swollen cells to burst and free the alkaloids from within them." - (cyb & ChemisTryptaMan, 2013) (M. hostilis was recommended, but other Acacias should work)

2) Acid Cook

Overall Comments:

1) Absolute quantities should be specified, with pH as a reference. "Vinegar has a standard concentration of acetic acid. Prescribing proportions of vinegar, water and plant material should be sufficient and makes pH measurement unnecessary. Besides, the precision of the pH during cooking is not a very critical factor I think." - Pitubo
2) A general filtering tip. "I find it more convenient to reduce first and filter afterwards. boiling to reduce the volume of the liquid also causes fine particles to aggregate, making it easier to filter the fine dust. Even better than filtering is to have the time and patience and to set the liquid aside to let particulates settle to the bottom. Carefully decanting the clear supernatant in my experience gives much better results than most filtering efforts would. This does require some time though, at least a day." - Pitubo
3) For newbies or those without a background in chemistry, food grade acids are recommended. "When using acetic acid in the cook, it will stink up the place, apart from the humidity produced. That is why using nonvolatile acids like citric and phosphoric should be considered. Please don't recommend hydrochloric acid. It wrecks metal cooking ware, is volatile and stinks and vapors may affect nearby metals. Also, where can I find food grade hydrochloric acid? I have seen food grade phosphoric acid (from brewery supply shops) but never sulphuric. Most people would only be able to obtain battery grade sulphuric or worse, drain cleaner. The latter is too concentrated and therefore highly dangerous, plus it is usually essentially industrial waste acid. What about citric acid? It is pretty available, typically as food grade." - Pitubo
4) The partial disassociation of protons in acetic acid (heated) needs to be investigated.
5) Overboiling the solution is not recommended. The bark is not being fully cooked, the heat just facilitates the transfer to DMT from bark to acid, where it will dissolve. Higher temp means increased reaction rate. "The pan should be covered with a lid, to reduce steaming, stinking and energy use. If water may need to be topped up, there certainly wasn't enough to begin with. It doesn't hurt to have the boiling roll just enough to effectively stir the plant material." - Pitubo

Key differences:

1) The main difference lies in the duration of the cook. All the cooks recommend a slow cook, however both Earthwalker's Tek and Max Ion recommend a heat bath instead of direct heat. Longest cook time is Max Ion Tek, with a minimum of 8 hours. Quickest time is Earthwalker's Tek, with a minimum of 1 and a half hours. pH is relatively consistent, with most teks suggesting a pH of 4. Max Ion gives a range, of 2-4.

Max Ion

1. "Transfer material to your glass extraction vessel and add a small amount of distilled vinegar OR ascorbic acid (vit C) OR citric acid to a minimal amount filtered water (approx 50ml) and the pour into the vessel. A target pH of 2-4 is desirable. Place the vessel in warm (not hot) heat bath for minimum of 8 hours. {low heat, the glass vessel should be able to be handled without burning}"

Lextek

"1. Acidify an excess amount of distilled water by mixing one part vinegar to three parts water. You are aiming for a pH of 4. Use a digital pH meter or litmus paper to determine the pH of the solution.
2. Place all the bark into a large saucepan and fill with the acidified water, ensuring all the bark is well covered. Four litres per cook was used here. Bring the mixture to a light simmer and proceed to cook for a further hour. Once complete, pour off and save the liquid. Perform this step a further two times.
3. Combine all liquids and filter out the fine bark particles through a muslin cloth.
4. Reduce all liquids down to a few liters on low heat. This may take several hours.
For your own sake BE SURE that your kitchen has adequate ventilation. Humidity can build up quicker than you think and before you know it your ceiling and walls may be dripping in oily red acidic liquid!" (A. obtusifolia was used).

The DMT Handbook

"The acid cook will convert the DMT in the bark into a water-soluble salt. Phosphoric Acid was used here so the DMT Phosphate salt was produced. The DMT salt will migrate away from the bark into the acidic water. Many acids will work, however it is strongly recommended that Phosphoric, Hydrochloric, or Sulphuric acid be used. Previously, Vinegar (Acetic acid) was used, but the yields were substandard compared to those achieved with Phosphoric acid. This may be due to the Acetic acid forming a weak bond with the DMT which may easily be broken down during some steps of this process. Phosphoric Acid is also known to produce ultra-potent ayahuasca brews.
(Relevant info. Acetic acid doesn't fully disassociate in water. Hydrochloric disassociates in about a 1:1 stoichiometry, with sulphuric giving 2:1 (sulphuric acid is diprotic))
A few drop of the acid were added dropwise to a jug of water. It was shaken well and pH tested until it reached pH 4 Use a digital pH meter or litmus paper to check the water’s pH

Pour the acidified water into your large saucepan containing the bark. It should cover the bark by at least an inch

NOTE: Be sure to use ONLY STAINLESS STEEL saucepans. Aluminium saucepans will oxidize in the presence of acids/bases!

Place the saucepan onto your largest stove burner and bring it to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat so it is just rolling and proceed to cook it for a further hour and a half Be sure to keep some extra acidified water handy as the saucepan will need to be topped up from time to time due to evaporation.

When you have completed the first cook, pour off the bark tea into one of your 5L HDPE jugs. You can use the saucepan lid to stop any bark from falling out, and the funnel to aid the pouring. Now, repeat the acid cooking process twice more and combine all the liquids. Once finished, discard the exhausted bark and clean your large saucepan well. Pour the combined liquids through a filter into your clean, large saucepan. The filter setup used here consisted of a screen printing cloth placed over a strainer. Muslin cloth will work fine if you can’t find screen printing cloth.

Put the filtered bark tea back on the stove and reduce it down to about 2L. A hard boil doesn’t seem to affect the final outcome. BE SURE that your kitchen has adequate ventilation. Humidity can build up quicker than you think, and before you know it, your ceiling and walls may be covered in oily red acidic liquid!!"
(A. obtusifolia was used)

Earthwalkers ACRB Tek 100g

"Then add you're preferred acid ,the easiest to procure is normal white vinegar and mix at least 50-60ml (to 500mL water) to the bark-water mix and this will give you the acquired ph (pH not stated). Then allow this to sit in a warm water bath for at least 1-1/2 hours (Repetition of acid cook was not performed for this tek.) whilste waiting swirl this around gently every 10-15 mins be careful not to cause an emulsion ( do not cause bubbles or aeration ) !"
(A. confusa was used)


2.5) Defat (Optional, read comments for details)

Overall Comments:

1) "This stage not necessary when using MHRB but is advisable if using ACRB or ACTrB." (cyb and ChemisTryptaMan, 2013)
2) "This is done to remove any undesirable fats and other plant material leaving the molecule in solution before the basing stage (the molecule won’t be taken up by the NPS as it is still in salt form.) Ideally you do the defat and the pull with the same solvent. A defat is not exactly about getting rid of ALL the fats, it is about getting rid of whatever fats (again, NOT ALL) can dissolve while your alkaloid is in salt form, meaning that when you freebase, only the freebase will be available to be picked up by the solvent (as the same solvent will have removed the rest during the defat). Defat is not really necessary for MHRB as there is very little fat present but is a good idea for ACRB/ACTrB." (cyb and ChemisTryptaMan, 2013)

Max Ion

"Cool to room temperature and Defat (add) with a small amount (50ml) of warm, light Naphtha. Shake up a few times, then remove Naphtha and dispose of it." (cyb & ChemisTryptaMan, 2013)

2.5.5) Salination

Overall Comments:

1) This step was unique to Max Ion, but is seems to have inspired Earthwalkers tek as well. Involves the addition of salt to "Adding a highly saturated salt solution to the mix to gives a high ionic strength to the solution and is more likely to form ‘clumps’ of molecules and help to push the product out in the first 2-3 pulls." (cyb & ChemisTryptaman, 2013)

Max Ion

1. Add apprx1 litre of Salt solution (using HOT filtered water) to the acid soak. {more if the initial bark material is greater than 100g}. Using appx.70-80g of NaCl (Salt), first dissolved in minimal hot filtered water (approx 200ml) and topped up to make final amount.

Earthwalkers ACRB Tek 100g

"measure out 80g salt and dissolve it in 400ml boiling water for ease of dissolving easily no other reason , then add an additional 500- 600ml water to the saline mix then add it to the 2ltr bottle of acidic soup !!"


3) Basification

Overall Comments:

1) This step neutralises the acid, and forces the DMT to enter "freebase" form. Freebase refers to a deprotonated amine compound that was forced to enter a freebase state from an ionic state by neutralisation. In laymans terms, this means it was changed from salt to pure substance. In chemistry, acid + base ---> salt + water. So Hydrochloric acid + Sodium hydroxide would be HCL + NaOH ---> NaCl + H20. The product is basically table salt and water. In acid cooks, DMT is converted into a salt form, depending on the acid used. HCl makes DMT hydrochloride, H2SO4 makes DMT sulfate, CH3COOH makes DMT acetate etc. For the purposes of ingestion via vaporisation, we don't want it to be in a salt form.

Key differences:

1) Max Ion and Earthwalkers tek heats the neutralised mixture for a further 2 hours. No other teks in this comparative study do this.


Max Ion

Dissolve apprx 40g of NaOH (Lye) in a minimal amount of COOL filtered water (approx 100ml) and add to the acidic/saline mix. A pH of 12+ is desired, so add more if necessary. Warm the mix in the heat bath for 2 hours (stir occasionally) {Low heat, the glass vessel should be able to be handled without burning}. After 2 hours, cool to room temperature.


Lextek

Let the reduced acidic solution cool to lukewarm and pour into a HDPE jug like the one the water came in. Weigh 100 grams of Sodium Hydroxide and SLOWLY add 10 grams at a time, shaking well each time. This will raise the pH to 14. The solution will turn black. Use a digital pH meter or litmus paper to determine the pH of the solution. NOTE: Adding base to water is an exothermic reaction (releases heat) and if added too quickly to already hot water, spitting can occur. You DO NOT want this stuff on you !! Once the solution is basified and stable, swirl it around to homogenise the mixture.


The DMT Handbook

During the 15-20 minute waiting period, you should prepare the basifying solution. Start by weighing out 200 grams of Sodium Hydroxide. NOTE: Be sure to use ONLY STAINLESS STEEL saucepans. Aluminium saucepans will oxidize in the presence of acids/bases! Very slowly, and very carefully, add this to some water in your smaller saucepan. Stir well and allow all the Sodium Hydroxide to dissolve. Note: It is strongly suggested that this be done outside with a face mask, goggles, and gloves It Burns skin! It EATS furniture! Once the 15-20 minute waiting period is up, you can very carefully add the basifying solution to your jug containing the bark tea. You will see the bark tea turn to a thick black liquid. BE CAREFUL if you pour too fast it can ‘spit’ at you. Believe me, it burns.

Earthwalkers ACRB Tek 100g

Now measure 50-60g g ( lye , caustic soda ) and add it to 300ml water SLOWLY~CAREFULLY and add lye to water not water to lye ! Also do this in a well ventilated area ( then when dissolved add to the acidic saline soup in the 2ltr bottle ) , it will go almost black ! Then place a further amount of water to the 2ltr mix , but be careful to just add enough to top it off but leave enough room for you're naphtha to fit , this should give a finale ph of around 12.8+ ! But now leave the basic 2ltr soup in a warm water bath for at least 2hrs ! Gently Mixing and turning occasionally !


References

cyb., ChemisTryptaMan. (2013) The cyb/CTM ‘Maximum Yield’ ATB Salt tek (https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&m=459391#post459391)

Earthwalker. (2014) ACRB TEK 100g "PICS" (Newbie Friendly) (https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=58064)

Lex. (2007) Lex's DMT Extraction V 1.0 "Lextek" (https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Lextek)

Viracocha. (2008 ) The DMT Handbook (https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/The_DMT_Handbook)

TO BE ADDED

1) DMT Workshop by David Barlow for comparative analysis
2) Introductory chemistry section
3) Novel and theoretical extraction methods


If you guys have any other suggestions for extraction teks to be analysed or chapter suggestions, please post your thoughts.

TO BE CONTNUED

Excellent project

If we can also definitively quantitate the info on differences between ACRB and MHRB too, that'd be mighty swell.

There are so many variables I'd like to see more data on too, ambient temp affecting yield, for one.

A good initiative! Here is some comment:


Nowadays, not everyone has access to powdered bark. Milling yourself can be tricky, perhaps a subsection on powdering could be useful? With STB extractions, an extended soak in strong lye solution will also break down shredded plant material very effectively.


This really makes no sense to me, did you check this yourself? Water filters should hardly change ionic strength and if they do, the ionic strength will likely be smaller after filtering, not bigger.


As I understand it, the freezing also causes microscopic needles of ice to grow and cut cell walls and other structures.

You make no mention of microwaving the plant material to rupture cell structures. Some time ago there was some discussion about the use of microwaves in extractions. Did anybody attempt practical research in this area yet?


Vinegar has a standard concentration of acetic acid. Prescribing proportions of vinegar, water and plant material should be sufficient and makes pH measurement unnecessary. Besides, the precision of the pH during cooking is not a very critical factor I think.


Mentioning amounts of liquid without mentioning amounts of plant material has little use.


I find it more convenient to reduce first and filter afterwards. boiling to reduce the volume of the liquid also causes fine particles to aggregate, making it easier to filter the fine dust. Even better than filtering is to have the time and patience and to set the liquid aside to let particulates settle to the bottom. Carefully decanting the clear supernatant in my experience gives much better results than most filtering efforts would. This does require some time though, at least a day.


When using acetic acid in the cook, it will stink up the place, apart from the humidity produced. That is why using nonvolatile acids like citric and phosphoric should be considered.


Please don't recommend hydrochloric acid. It wrecks metal cooking ware, is volatile and stinks and vapors may affect nearby metals. Also, where can I find food grade hydrochloric acid? I have seen food grade phosphoric acid (from brewery supply shops) but never sulphuric. Most people would only be able to obtain battery grade sulphuric or worse, drain cleaner. The latter is too concentrated and therefore highly dangerous, plus it is usually essentially industrial waste acid.

What about citric acid? It is pretty available, typically as food grade.


This needs to be investigated. To me the reasoning sounds shaky. For one, there is no bond with the acid in solution, instead the dmt is dissolved as a protonated ion. Acetic acid dissociates sufficiently to provide dmt with all the protons it needs.


The pan should be covered with a lid, to reduce steaming, stinking and energy use. If water may need to be topped up, there certainly wasn't enough to begin with. It doesn't hurt to have the boiling roll just enough to effectively stir the plant material.


I don't think that is a realistic expectation, there is so much variation between ACRB and ACRB from different sources, and the same with MHRB.

Thanks a lot for your very detailed post pit!



I think null means the difference in yield, or quality.

As I understand it, the microwaves may help to break down cellular structures like vacuoles. There was a thread about it some time ago: [Technique] Microwave-Assisted Extraction. Also here: Microwave Crude Extract.


We should not assume that untrained people know about the caveats of using (concentrated) hydrochloric acid. I would not personally trust a MSDS to give exact descriptions of ingredients. Things like stabilizers, impurities and production contaminants are not always mentioned. Always aim for "food safe" labeling, MSDS is only a handling safety sheet, not a certificate of purity by any means.


Acetic acid vapor is actually un-dissociated (associated?). But in solution, its dissociation constant is not much of an issue in the presence of any bases. The base will react with the acid and shift the equilibrium. Maybe when extremely weak acids and bases are involved, there would be an issue, but I don't think that it is here.

Anyway, a chemical expert may clear this up, because I am not.

It was an interesting read. Unfortunately, all the microwaves they used were scientific microwaves, with reflux condensers poking out the top. I'll add Microwave-Assisted Extractions in a separate section about novel and theoretical extraction methods.




True, but it doesn't bother me. Again, I'll highly stress to use food safe acids.