http://scialert.net/full...p.2011.21.31&org=10
*edit* the second link was 404 error, and third one was a hijacked site. Page 2 contains an upload of the book, by Jeez.

After reading quite a bit into that third link (the book), I've come to the conclusion that MAE has many advantages over other techs, including SFE (way more costly and involved), and fewer disadvantages (the most obvious being the inability to extract very heat-labile compounds). The other tech that rivals MAE in speed and extraction efficiency is UAE (ultrasound-assisted extraction).
My interest has primarily been essential oil extraction (there is even a specialized device for this), extraction of phenols, aldehydes, and other plant actives. For this purpose, it has up to a 100-fold speed advantage, and >30% yield advantage, over soxhlet and steam distillations. Keep in mind, household ovens have less control built-in than specialized lab ovens, so power levels need to be adjusted manually, and a close eye should be kept on the extraction material.


It appears limonene is a very effective extractant in MAE, and would probably work quite well for those interested in working with cannabis.

An interesting read for sure. I knew as couples if grad students that would have benifits from this awhile back.

many grad students aren't used to thinking outside the box.

I smiled at the subtle irony here

I've had a quick look at ref. 3 and it is indeed a good read. Thank you for the link, Benzyme.

a minimum gpa/GRE score req., and a cheesy essay are all that's needed to get into grad school. innovative thinking is optional.

microwave ovens being boxes...

punny, i initially thought the same thing.


I ordered the mw contraption for essential oils, i imagine it can handle other solvents, since it's glass and ceramic-coated metal.

Great minds think alike (I wish!!)

Sounds very nice. You lucky bugger! (As we say in the vernacular.)

Never seen this before. Thanks for posting.
i want one! but the price is unreasonable...


That looks SO simple, DIY simple.
-glass jar with microwavable lid.
-frozen ice cone inside of the lid.
-a collecting cup under ice_cone.
-(optional) screen to hold herbs.

Future project for sure. Thanks again! Let us know how it goes.

the ice doesn't melt in this contraption, not from the microwaves anyway. it's shielded by the ceramic-coated metal cone holding it.

http://www.google.com/patents/US20130240347


this is but one application, involving extraction of volatiles. microwaves can also accelerate redox reactions, additions, isomerizations, and several other types of reactions.
a DIY mod for temp control would be ideal.

Speed up isomerizations you say? Now my interest is piqued.

Very fascinating read.

"In MAE the period of heating is another important factor to be considered. Extraction times in MAE are very short compared to conventional techniques and usually vary from a few minutes to a half-hour, avoiding possible thermal degradation and oxida- tion [20, 28], which is especially important for target compounds sensitive to over- heating of the solute–solvent system."

This makes me wonder if LSA could be extracted into water using this method. Perhaps by using several rounds of heating, each round being very short in duration to avoid heat degradation.

I was thinking of establishing equilibrium between d-LSD and l-LSD, then cut with chromatography. Equillibrium of LSA could be neat if you wanted LSA, else targeting the monohydrate would be your best option.

What about microwave assisted chromatography? Or is that idea complete nonsense?

i'm not sure it would offer any advantages, i.e. improved resolution.
perhaps marginal gains at low power.

microwaves are notorious for rearranging pi-bonds, just something to consider.

Noted presumably that would favour conjugation with a pi-aromatic system?

yup, those aromatics will heat up

I did a simple experiment with P. Harmala. 12 g was covered with a minimal amount of water which was acidified with 1000 mg of vitamin c. This was microwaved for 1 min.

A freind and I then consumed the rue along with 10 g each of normaly prepared ACRB brew. We drank this over the course of an hour and a half. A very powerful experience resulted.

The tea made from the rue was also very easy to drink compared to the normal 3x boiling method.

I should note that the effects of the rue seemed a little different than normal. More of an electric feel. Perhaps some of the harmalas were reduced to THH in the microwave?

Edit: today I decided to attempt to brew acacia using this method, a sort of bio essay guided research. I covered 5 g of ACRB in a small glass and covered with minimal water. No acidification used. Microwaved for 1 min. I had 140 mg of harmalas which I re-constituted in water and drank, followed 15 min later by the light.

It works. It was almost as powerful as the 6 g rue + 10 g ACRB brew I mentioned above.

Btw, the taste was very tolerable. Better than the egg white trick or letting it decant over and over.

BundleflowerPower: presumably you just drink the liquid after filtering or decanting away from the solids?