SWIM doesn't know chemistry to the "T",just know how to follow steps so bare with SWIM.

According to Amor fatis nontoxic tek (https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Amor_fati%27s_Nontoxic_Approach_to_Spice_Extraction) the following goes down with some questions....
(Note the numbered steps below are not related to the numbered steps in the tek but are in the same order)

1] Take powdered material and put in a jar.

2] Add vinegar and heat. (The tek states this is "may" aid to further break down the material so this step is self explanatory).

3] Add hydrated lime with a sufficient amount of water.
(I'm half-confused on this step already: Will the previous step of vinegar neutralize the hydrated lime even though we are adding water? SWIMs' assumption of this step is to "dissolve" the dmt salt stuck to the "powered material" into a liquid form but I'm almost sure this is not correct?)

4]Add d-limeonene.
(Why? My guess is to make the "dissolved dmt salt in liquid form" to split and separate into two visibly distinct liquid layers and thus can be separated into two forms, I'm guessing im still wrong though.)

5](mix to a doughy consistency)

6]Pour all the liquid into a the THP thing and the limenone will pass through and be collected at the bottom and everything else(stuff we don't want?) is on top (This part isn't exactly clear according to the tek but does that sound in-line with it?)

6]Prepare "Fumaric Acid Saturated Water" in a jar

7]Mix collected limeonene liquid and mix with the fumaric acid saturated water(shake vigorously). (Why are we doing this exactly? I thought we were doing separation earlier. so confused.)

8] Allow to separate and for emulsions to settle and pour into a separatory device.
Collect bottom water layer for evaporation and top limonene layer for reuse or recycling. (Im guessing this is when the real "separation" happens and earlier was just to "suck the dmt into an easy to work with solution called water?"

9](At this point i assume the liquid dmt is mixed with water and now we evaporate).

I'll stop here until the previous questions are answered.

the vinegar and heat aid in lysing the cells, breaking the DMT acetate out of the idioblasts and into the water-vinegar solution.

adding the hydrated lime changes the DMT from acetate to the limonene-soluble freebase.


the last step made the DMT soluble in limonene, but NOT water-soluble, so adding the limo will cause all the DMT to migrate to your solvent.

now that the DMT has migrated to your solvent, you want to seperate the extract material from the solvent. you can save the material to be pulled with limonene again.

also, i will say that with methods almost identical to this one (q21q21) decanting was more than sufficient for filtration. if the sludge is hydrated, the limo will float on top of it, and the oil is less viscous than the bark sludge, so it pours out faster.

the first few times i decanted through a filter (funnel & cotton ball); but i never needed it and the cotton ball kept absorbing solvent, so i stopped using a filter altogether... no slip-ups yet (and i am pretty clumsy)

now the DMT is in your solvent, and solvent is seperated. how do you get the DMT out of the solvent? well in this case freeze precipitation and evaporation are out of the question, so we must get it into a medium that can be evap'd
FASW
FASI
FASA
vinegar/water

the shaking vigorously allows the acid to convert the DMT to fumarate (or acetate with vinegar salting), which is water soluble (and again, not limo soluble).

so now you need to seperate the acid-water from the limo so you can evap it


feel free to continue . in the meantime i hope i helped elucidate this for you

Good response.

TheFly, I'm glad you're doing some investigation instead of just 'following the recipe'. Reading more about the basics of acid/base extraction might be a good idea.

The thing is that DMT is soluble in nonpolar solvents (such as limonene, naptha, acetone, etc) in its freebase form, and polar solvents (water) in its acid salt form. The pH of the material is adjusted and the DMT is migrated from polar, to nonpolar, to polar again, each time discarding more and more of what you don't want such as plant material.