Mescaline Extraction
by Edward Anderson
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Care should be taken with solvents and strong acids and bases. Out of
concern for safety I would advise the use of methylenechloride as a safer alternative tohloroform or benzene as a non-polar solvent.
From Edward F. Anderson's _Peyote: The Divine Cactus_ (without permission):
"Several methods are available to isolate and identify mescaline
within plant or animal tissue. Extraction is accomplished by
methanol; this initial stage is then completed by filtration of
the extract and its evaporation to dryness. The extract is then
treated with chloroform and 0.05 N hydrochloric acid in a sep-
aratory funnel; the aqueous portion is retained after several
washings with chloroform. Ammonia or sodium carbonate is added
to the aqueous solution in sufficient quantities to produce a
slightly basic solution with a pH of about 8. This is followed
by further extraction with chloroform and chloroform-ethanol (3:1).
After adjusting the pH to about 10 a final chloroform-ethanol
extraction is made. The chloroform extract which contains the
alkaloids is then dried. The alkaloids can be separated into
phenolic and non-phenolic groups by passing the extract
(redissolved in chloroform) through Amberlite IRA-400 (OH-)
ion-exchange resin. If thin layer chromatography is used for
alkaloid separation and identification, several spray reagents
are particularly useful. For example, Flourescamine (4-phenyl-
spiro [furan-2 (3H), 1'-phthalan]-3,3-dione) readily distinguishes
phenethylamines from tetrahydroisoquinolones. Mescaline may
then be identified by comparison with known samples using
infra-red spectrophotometry.
"Applied chemists" within the drug cult have devised ingenious
methods of extracting pure mescaline from dried or fresh plant
material. The basic process varies somewhat but a typical one
is as follows: the plant material is first boiled to extract
the alkaloids; this extract is then made basic by the addition
of sodium hydroxide (lye). Next benzene (try methylenechloride)
is added to further separate the alkaloids. The aqueous and
benzene portions are allowed to separate following a gentle
shaking. Dilute sulfuric acid (hydrochloric works as well) is
next added in small quantitites to the benzene portion and the
solution is again shaken. The mixture is allowed to stand, and
the process is repeated several more times with the addition of
a more dilute acid every time. A white precipitate will soon
settle and can easily be dried. This is mescaline sulfate (or
hydrochloride) and further steps can make it quite pure."
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