Hi,
I try to make some changa with an extract freebse from rue, i try with alchool (the one used in liquor making) but remain undissolved, also i try to infuse some herbs (not spice) to see what, it's now dry but the leaf it's separate from a fine not tottaly white dust.

It's possible that my harmala have some impurities that don't dissolve or the solvent not working ?

What other solvent i can try that work ?

Is that alcohol 100%? If not, try IPA 100% (dry) good luck

it's 95% i'm try again apply some heat and in two different extract, one more pure...and see..

Xa--

Your best bet is ethanol not IPA-- and it may help to warm it a bit.

Here is a good thread on the topic:
Solvent for Harmine/Harmaline

Yes, it's what i uesd...now i tried again and leave to decant the solution, there's a layer of dust...maybe sodium carbonate that was not well clean ? and the alchoon have a brownish tint, i wait, if the alchool became clear...or i failed the extraction or what, if the alchool remain colored, it's working.

Boil water and use it to warm the ethanol. Harmalas are much better soluble in warm ethanol than in cold ethanol.

If you want to test if the residue is sodium carbonate, you can try dissolve it in a few drops of water, which it should if it is sodium carbonate, but not if it is harmala freebase. To the solution add a bit of vinegar. If you see bubbles appearing, the residue is probably sodium carbonate.

Thanks pitubo, so i can test in a better way :-) i made a lot of wash to the last basification, the water was very clear, now i leave to decant all night and tomorrow i can see the result.

The residue dosn't dissolve in water, i mix well and leave to decant all the night, so why harmala fb dissolve partially in alchool ?
i have to use more heat or more alchool wait more ?

Maybe the 5% of water in my 95% achool limit that.
If someone can explain me better....off course i use it and mix well in the leaf.

Maybe the alcohol was not warm enough to dissolve all the freebase. It seems that room temperature alcohol dissolves much less harmala freebase than hot ethanol. Instead of more heat you could also use more alcohol, yeah. But then you'd have to evaporate it off again, so more heat is better I guess.

The white residue could also be calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from your tap water. It does not dissolve in alcohol. In water it is only sparingly soluble, most of it in the form of calcium bicarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2).

This is just a fair bit of guesswork on my side. You can still do the vinegar test. If it bubbles, it's probably a carbonate. If it dissolves and turns yellow, it's harmalas.

Thanks, now i put all in changa, the next time i would use distilled water and clean/decant more, i don't do the winegar test...ok, next time, bye.

If you can find methanol then this dissolves harmalas better than any other solvent I've found. Warm it in a hot water bath without a flame being present.

Just make sure you evaporate it all out before smoalking the mix.

Chlorinated solvents like chloroform and dcm are reported to be even better. Like methanol, these have no place in the kitchen of the "average" changa enthusiast. Ethanol is not much worse than methanol (both need to be warmed anyway for best results) and much less toxic and much better available.