Why recrystallize dmt

Receive email updates. My DSpace authorized users. About DSpace. Investigations into the polymorphic properties of N,N-dimethyltryptamine by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry.

Gaujac, Alain Ford, James L. Dempster, Nicola M. The powerful psychoactive features of N,N-dimethyltryptamine DMT have sparked the imagination of many research disciplines for several decades. One of the key chemical features associated with compound identity is the determination of melting points.

DMT samples were prepared following extraction from Mimosa tenuiflora inner barks or by laboratory synthesis and then its crystals were recrystallized from solutions of the alkaloid using either hexane or acetonitrile. Add heated solvent dropwise into the beaker containing the extract. The heptane will go cloudy almost immediately and take on a yellow color as the DMT goes into solution. Keep adding heated solvent until further addition or agitation causes no more DMT to dissolve.

Your beaker should now contain yellowish-tinged heptane with an orange-brown blob of oil and undissolved solids at the bottom of the vessel. Carefully decant the solution into another beaker, careful to leave the impurities behind. Repeat dropwise addition of heated solvent and decantation to ensure no DMT is left behind. Now that we have dealt with insoluble impurities, our solution is see-through but tinged yellow.

This discoloration is due to the presence of high-molecular-weight reaction by-products which may have been formed during the extraction process. A simple wash with activated carbon will get rid of decolorizing compounds. Activated carbon is extremely efficient at absorbing impurities due to its large surface area.

Add excess solvent and activated carbon , and boil the solution for a few minutes. The colored impurities will adsorb onto the surface of activated charcoal. Remove the charcoal with absorbed impurities by filtration. Your solvent should now be almost clear. If the yellow color persists, repeat the charcoal wash carefully. Note: Very little activated carbon is needed to remove the colored impurities from a solution.

You must be careful in your use of decolorizing carbon: if too much is used, it can adsorb the desired compound from the solution as well as the colored impurities. After the solution has been filtered cover the flask containing the hot filtrate and set it aside undisturbed to cool slowly to room temperature. As the solution cools, the solubility of the dissolved compound will decrease and the solid will begin to crystallize from the solution.

Once the solution reaches room temperature, move it into the refridgerator, and finally into the freezer to freeze precipitate most of the DMT. The slower your solution cools, the cleaner and larger your crystals will be. Recrystallization Technique - Rhodium. Jump to: navigation , search.