Ok, this is propably "not even" advanced or enhanced chemistry but i think in this category there is more of a chance to get meaningful answers. So, i have been seeing around that boric acid (pharmaceutical grade) is available. I was wondering if it can be used as an acid in any step of an extraction giving borate salts of the alkaloids. Searching around, i did not find anything on "borates of alkaloids" so i might be missing something, does it form salts with amines? The reason i had thoughts about borates is because the different solubilities of different salts (acetates, fumarates, hydrochlorides) give a lot of "room" to play with solubilities of alkaloids in various solvents, alkaloids crashing out of solutions etc so i thought that having borates in the arsenal could be an interesting choice. Hm, could they form complexes with alkaloids that precipitate? I apologise for the "too general" tone of my message , but i am just throwing an idea on the table, propably waiting for the more knowledgable members in the "chemistry department" to shoot it down 
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Aknowledged, checked this thing myself.
Well , i can think of two ways of circumventing the afforementioned toxicity. One , use borates as intermediates in extractions (if the borates have the preffered properties) not as a part of the final product.
The second is of course limiting its consumption if its is anavoidable. This could propably work best with products that have small dosages, in the two digit mg range.
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all the acids are potentially toxic. that being said, I use boric acid on the ants, vinegar for extractions. There's no significant advantage to using boric acid, or other mineral acids. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted." ~ hassan i sabbah
"Experiments are the only means of attaining knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." -Max Planck
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Boric acid has some chemical properties which make it useful as a catalyst for some reactions, however as a tool in extraction, there's not much purpose. While its toxicity is over-rated (it's not nearly as toxic as people say), it's still better to use food-grade reagents and solvents when possible, for items meant to be consumed.
Boric acid can apparently be used as a catalyst to convert carboxylic acids into amides, and possibly simpler amides to more complex substituted amides. Apparently it's very good at transferring groups from one molecule to another, and thus works as a catalyst in many such reactions (which are quite useful!)
There were some other catalytic uses for it that were really interesting, but I've unfortunately lost many of the notes I once had.
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Good call. And boric acid is less toxic than table salt, but... Also, it's steam volatile. Furthermore: Quote:With polyhydric alcohols such as glycerol and mannitol the acidity of is increased. With mannitol for example the pK decreases to 5.15. This is due to the formation of a chelate, [((OH)4C6H8O2)2B]−, and this feature is used in analytical chemistry.
Boric acid dissolves in anhydrous sulfuric acid and acts a strong acid:
B(OH)3 + 6H2SO4 → 3H3O+ + 2HSO4− + B(HSO4)4− Although whether that's of any consequence to folk here remains to be seen... “There is a way of manipulating matter and energy so as to produce what modern scientists call 'a field of force'. The field acts on the observer and puts him in a privileged position vis-à-vis the universe. From this position he has access to the realities which are ordinarily hidden from us by time and space, matter and energy. This is what we call the Great Work." ― Jacques Bergier, quoting Fulcanelli
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