Hello, professional Nexian chemists, I have a question.
I say professional because I don't need anyone sharing their confirmation-biased gut feeling with me, since that leaves the issue open-ended. Thanks for your understanding.

I have a solvent that evaps clean - Naphtha. All good so far.

But - is there no possibility of "light petroleum distillate" bonding the spice or associated alks (ie. the mysterious jungle/jimjam), say an aromatic hydrocarbon bonding DMT and creating something tentatively titled DMT Benzoate (that's not an educated guess, just an example of what I might mean). This chemical of course would not evap, since it would be a solid, and would lead to possible liver toxicity or such.

Is this a viable risk? Has this been dispelled elsewhere?

Thanks, I think we could all profit from having this settled.
The Chairman

(Can we get, say Benzyme and others in on this question?)

light petroleum distillate is what you want in naphtha, those are usually the short-chained
hydrocarbons. If it appears the product is as dry as it's going to get, then you can add a small volume of warm heptane or hexane, and let it evap slowly. alternatively, you may use a fan to blow over the product to help evaporate any trace solvent.

DMT benzoate would be the benzoic acid derivative of DMT, and you could only get that if you salted the naphtha with benzoic acid. It would not form in a solvent containing benzene.

I gather then, that there is no possibility of the stuff bonding my spice. The heptane or hexane would rinse any trace naphtha that failed to evap?

Thanks

correct.

nothing will complex with DMT in the free base form, because DMT has no charge on the amine.

Interesting question and that rises another related question with me.

In this topic I asked the OP a question:


One of the things I immediately thought of as false in this assumption of mine was the following:

What if the solvent did dissolve parts of it's plastic container or was impregnated with constituents of the plastic? Could those end up bonding with the DMT or other parts of the extraction? And would it be possible for that new molecule to end up in my final yield?


Kind regards,

The Traveler

when you recrystallize dmt, this will create a homogenous matrix, excluding any plastics or other unwanted compounds. since DMT free base has no charge, there is no way it can complex with other compounds.

for added peace of mind, do a triple re-x.
rest assured..very clean, crystalline dmt won't have any plastic in it. impurities
interfere with crystal formation.

That is pretty reassuring.

And does this mean that no constituents of the plastic and things like plastic softeners and the likes can end up in the final product this way?


Kind regards,

The Traveler

And there was much rejoicing

PLUR

correct.

plastics and plasticizers bind in charged states, usually in the form of free radicals.
they may also bind weakly with nonspecific interactions.

when you raise the pH of the solution, the charge state of DMT's amine shifts from positive
to no charge. in this state, it isn't possible for electrostatic interaction, that is, charged particles can't bind it, forming a complex. that leaves the only other two options for molecules to bind to it: hydrogen bonding with the indole amine's hydrogen (polar..relatively weak), and van der waal's (nonpolar...stronger) interactions with indole.

for the former, we dry the nonpolar solvent over a drying agent like magnesium sulfate (epsom salt), sodium sulfate, or calcium sulfate. to resolve the latter, we use a recrystallization solvent to sequester these impurities. those two techniques will give you a very clean product, with no need for preparative chromatography.

Comforting, thanks.

Hey Benz/Infun
Since we have now addressed the whole plastics in your nps issue (within acceptable parameters)

Could I get your take on the issue of iodized salt and whether it is possible for some (if any) of the minute traces of iodine could make it across the nps barrier and actually bind to the crystal formation or be suspended in the goo?
(potassium iodate, potassium iodide, sodium iodate, and sodium iodide.)

I suspect not, but a chemists' POV is warranted.

We know that it is food safe (in small quantities) but is it 'Vape Safe'?

It would be great to put this issue to bed finally.

But plasticisers are non-polar in nature, so they could complex with dmt....

And crystal matrices can very often be heterogeneous as you know (think of protein crystals where the unit cell may contain the protein, complexed with a ligand, a nucleic acid, metal ions and water molecules - complex system indeed!). As for dmt in particular, I would be surprised to find that the crystal structure does not incorporate solvent molecules or even constituents of the plastic in the crystal's unit cell. One could go as far as claiming that particular dmt crystal shapes occur, at least in part, because of different solvent molecules or even plasticisers participating in the crystal unit. I do not think that crystallised dmt = free of plasticisers, but I do agree that, as you say, three or more times recrystallisation (each time with fresh solvent) will minimise or even eliminate any plasticisers that may be in the initial preparation.

I would be surprised to see iodide or iodate carrying to the NPS, since both are charged molecules....

But why is there a concern about iodine derivatives to begin with? As a constituent of a commonly used food additive and also present in the seas we swim, what exactly is the health risk with iodate and iodide?

That's exactly what I'm trying to establish...
In the past I have recommended Not using Iodized salt for teks as I am totally unaware if it will cross over and end up in the product and whether it is harmful to vape...
Thus, until a definitive answer is offered, I assume it is better to just use regular NaCl...standard (non adulterated) salt.