Two rumors going around here, that made some mess up with their
extractions:
1. Many tell you that you should use calciumhydroxide for the initial
extraction from poppy straw. Wrong. You will have large amounts of
liquid, which you will have to reduce, otherwise you'll have problems
getting precipitate. But eva****ating calciumhydroxide down will also
make the calciumsalts drop out of the solution. You'll loose at least
50 percent of the desired alkaloids this way.
2. Many tell you that carbonates and most preffered sodium carbonate
should be used to raise the pH of your solution because it has the
optimal pKa. Might be. But this too wont work at least with a
calciumhydroxide solution: Adding caustic soda will result in the
precipitation of the calciumsalts: Na2Co3 + Ca(OH)2 -> 2 NaOH + CaCO3.
This means that lots of CaCo3 will form.
Do your initial extractions with Methanol or Ethanol. THEN you can use
sodium carbonate or calciumhydroxide to raise the pH. Everything else
is NONSENSE ... Don't waste your money.
