This is in regards to 69ron's D-Limonene Mescaline Extraction, for drying the vinegar extraction. Would drying with a vacuum desiccator be much slower or faster than with a food dehydrator (what 69ron suggest)? I would prefer to use a vacuum desiccator since I have one at hand, and because it would address concerns with oxidation, carbonation, and general loss of potency with the use of heat.

This is my first post!! Cherry now popped. Hope someone takes notice...

Hi Philo, I have no idea and never used vaccuum dessicator, but you may try and report back. We'll be all ears.
Wecome tgo the nexus !

welcome

sure, dry under vac, fine

yay!

I have one too.
vac desiccator ftw, hands down. best option for long term storage of fine chems

just to correct... when talking with benz, I think he meant that the vacuum dessicator is very good for drying/storage of moist products, but not really for evaporating large amounts of liquid. For that, a food dehydrator (or a rotovap, as benz said, but thats way more expensive and advanced, though it would serve for a bunch of different purpouses too like distilling solvents and so on)

yes...

drying anything more than a couple mLs is a job for something other than a vac desiccator. a fan blowing over a vessel covered with some porous material (like cloth) is a better option for evaporating more than a couple mL.

Thanks for the welcome ladies and gentleman !!




Why is that? Because of speed or the desiccants limited ability to absorb that much moisture?

My other concern is if the acetic acid in the vinegar would fully evaporate in a vacuum. I don't think the silica desiccant would absorb it. Even if I decide to use a low temp oven or food dehydrator, once the extract dries down to a goo I believe I would get the best results completing the drying in a vac desiccator, unless the acetic acid wouldn't evaporate.




I haven't read of that technique, covering the container with a porous material. What's the purpose of doing that, wouldn't it obsruct the flow of air and slow the evaporation?

marginally
but more importantly, it will effectively block airborne particulates from getting into the product.

desiccant isn't for absorbing large volumes...it's primarily for drying/storing hygroscopic compounds which may have a bit of moisture.

with a solovent resistant pump/vac-glassware-hotplat/stirrer, boiling/reduction under vac can speed up evap very much,
but isn't that easy to pull off for the ave home tinkerer, and is used to reduce volume, not dry/crystalize material

benz, is there a way to effectively crash out mescaline acetate from solution?
and skip most if not all evapping anyways?

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

So does anyone know if the acetic acid will evaporate thoroughly in a vacuum desiccator?

the water will eventually evaporate, leaving acetate salts.

dg, try adding some MEK, and freeze overnight

That definitely doesn't seem like it would work. I read recently of someone who lost most of their yields because they assumed their MEK was dry but instead had just a few percentages of water. The MEK has to be as dry as possible, unless you know something I don't, and even then it seems that the mesc acetate only precipitates out if the MEK is overly saturated with the extracted alkaloid salts.

Anyway, in regards to the acetic acid, my concern is the excess acid that remains unconverted to salts. My assumption is that it would normally evaporate out along with the water. For that matter, what happens when any compound other than water evaporates in a vacuum desiccator, such as acetone? Does the desiccant absorb it?

i've tried acetone to crash citrater,acetic w/o luck, do you think mek is different enough to make a difference?

dont think ecsess acetic will evap, the extra water in the vinegar will though...which is why hcl is often easier for imo

the salts will be left behind..and when you redissolve them in water, it'll be the same pH as before you evaporated it.

the grackle recently tested this with mesc sulfate.