So I'm having a hard time finding MEK locally. Everywhere wants to sell 'MEK substitute' instead.

I've been searching up and down for an answer on this. I see that mescaline HCl can be washed using either cold anhydrous acetone, or cold anhydrous MEK. For the acetate, however, everybody is suggesting to use MEK, and there is no mention of using acetone.

Will acetone substitute for MEK when dealing with the acetate? Or is mescaline acetate more soluble in cold acetone than the HCl salt for some reason?

While there is every chance that mesc acetate is more soluble in acetone than the HCl, I'd suggest trying it anyhow.

Make sure everything is as dry as possible - the solvent, the alkaloid (use a vacuum desiccator if possible), the glassware - including the pipette - and, if possible, the atmosphere. Have everything pre-chilled in the freezer as well. This should minimise losses, but be sure to keep the acetone washings just in case.

According to this, MEK substitute is pure ethyl acetate. In the interest of science, you could try washing your crystals with that as well. Of course, try it on a small sample first.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the yields thus far haven't been good enough to warrant much experimentation, so I don't want to take unnecessary risks at this point (though this last trial seems to hold a lot of promise, knock on wood!)

The only ingredient listed on the MEK substitute I found was indeed ethyl acetate, so I suspect it's likely to be just that. However, I have no idea the solubility of the various salts/FB in it, nor the ability to really test it at this point.

The good news is that I did finally find some real MEK So no need to risk acetone or EA for now. Though in the name of science (and convenience), I would like to see available this info one day.

Crossing my fingers on this last trial - switching organic solvents, refined, more cautious procedure, and better notes, all seem like they're paying off based on observations.

Currently left with a dark green sticky residue leftover from a Ca(OH)2/d-limonene/vinegar extract. I dissolved this in hot Everclear, and wherever that evaporates, I'm noticing a fair amount of a tan powdery residue forming; enough to collect, actually. I'm assuming this is the acetate salt.

Given this, I theorize that after the ethanol solvent has evapped, and the residue washed with cold anhydrous MEK to remove that green goop, there should actually be a workable yield this time