Introduction
Any user of Kratom can attest to the annoyance of choking down multiple grams of rough powder to achieve your own personal state of bliss. Having recently extracted DMT from various plant sources, I wondered why I could not use the same sort of methodology in order to extract the active alkaloids (particularly Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine) from Kratom powder to produce an easier to ingest crystalline solution. After extensive research on the subject, I found only a handful of manuals on the subject (which all utilized different methods and occasionally were inconsistent in theory) and even less information on the subjective effects of the end product utilizing different route of administrations.
Equipment and glassware:
- 0.5 L Pyrex dish;
- 0.5 L (x2) and 200 ml (x2) beakers;
- Magneticstirrer with heating surface;
- Eyedropper (or Pasteur pipette);
- Razor blade.
Reagents:
- 30 g Kratom leafs (powder);
- 200 mL 5% Acetic acid (AcOH);
- ~ 40 g NaOH *;
- ~ 40 mL Toluene;
- ~ 200 ml Distilled (H2O).
* - NaOH is a strong base that should always be handled with extreme care. The combination of NaOH with water produces an exothermic reaction and should, thus, always be added very slowly to a solution containing H2O; NEVER pour H2O into a jar containing NaOH, always add the NaOH to a stable liquid solution instead.
Procedure
1. I heated 30 grams of my Bali Kratom and added 200 ml of Heinz distilled vinegar (5% acetic acid) to the beaker, which was just enough to cover the powder completely. I then stirred this mixture and let sit until I perceived no further dissolving of Kratom, at which point I added an equal amount (200 ml) of warm distilled H2O.
2. I ran a hot water bath (an electric hot plate would work even better) and set the solution in it, constantly changing out lukewarm water with near-boiling water.
2. I ran a hot water bath (an electric hot plate would work even better) and set the solution in it, constantly changing out lukewarm water with near-boiling water.
3. I added the NaOH aq. solution until the pH increased to 11.
4. After the hour passed (while constantly keeping my hot water bath hot) I added toluene. Use about 1 ml toluene per 1 g of leaf used. Now add this to your warm/hot basified leaf solution and stir well.
4. After the hour passed (while constantly keeping my hot water bath hot) I added toluene. Use about 1 ml toluene per 1 g of leaf used. Now add this to your warm/hot basified leaf solution and stir well.
If you have been using Bunsen burners or alcohol flames to keep the solution warm, make sure to have them extinguished before you even open the bottle of toluene. Toluene vapors are HIGHLY flammable. Do not become a statistic. Instead, use the hot water bath method mentioned above. Once you have stirred the toluene into the warm/hot solution for about 5-10 minutes, let it then separate.
5. You have two distinct layers, pull off the top layer (toluene) with a glass eyedropper. Your solution in the eyedropper (or Pasteur pipette) should look yellow, almost like flat Mountain Dew.
6. Decant your toluene layer into a flat glass tray (Pyrex). You will use this to collect your product, and evaporate off the toluene. You have to repeat steps 4-5 with toluene addition 2 times more to increase extraction yield.
7. Evaporate toluene off in front of a fan. It is preferred to do this outside, but not all living situations can accommodate this. If you have to do it inside, make sure you are not near any outlets. It is also CRUCIAL to have adequate ventilation by opening up any windows or doors that can provide air exchange.
8. Once the toluene evaporates, you will be left with an orange/yellow layer on the bottom of the tray that smells very floral. Take a razor blade and scrape up all the material, and you will end up with this (see below). At this point, I did one acetone wash and evaporated in a flat Pyrex tray to get pure crystals. I then scraped this up, to get my final product.
After a 40 g extraction, I ended up with roughly 400 mg of these Kratom crystals. It's~1% yield.
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