CIELO

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Introduction πŸ™

CIELO stands for Crystals In Ethyl-acetate Leisurely Over-the-counter.


In this technique (TEK), cold alkaline cactus paste (Fig. 2) is extracted with chilled ethyl acetate (Fig. 3). Mescaline citrate is precipitated with citric acid (Fig. 4) and collected (Fig. 5).


Thanks to everyone who contributed: someblackguy, Benzyme, shroombee, Metta-Morpheus, Downwardsfromzero, Kash, grollum, Mindlusion, Doubledog, Dreamer042, Loveall, and others.

Safety ⛑️

Review ethyl acetate's safety information[1]. Verify MSDS, plastic compatibility, and clean evaporation.


Following this advice does not guarantee safety. It is up to each adult individual to make their own decision.

Materials πŸ›’

  • French press (or similar ensemble)
  • 300g ice cold water
  • 25g lime
  • 100g dry cactus powder
  • 1qt ethyl acetate (also sold as "MEK substitute")
  • Coffee filter, support basket, and funnel
  • Quart jar
  • 4g of citric acid
  • Washing soda (for solvent reclaim)


IMG 20210608 223040865 copy 800x600.jpg
Fig. 1: Over the counter materials.

Process πŸ“œ

Paste 🌡

Mix ice cold water, lime, and cactus in french press for a few minutes to a smooth paste (Fig. 2).


IMG 20210603 183405358 copy 800x600.jpg
Fig. 2: Alkaline cactus paste.

Extract πŸ‘¨πŸΎβ€πŸ”¬

Cover paste with freezer chilled ethyl acetate (~0F), mix for for 60s, and filter to quart jar. Repeat until quart jar is ~80% full (~5x).


Inspect extract for droplets or particles. If present, remove them. Extract needs to be clean (see Fig. 3).


IMG 20210601 122315740 copy 600x800.jpg
Fig. 3: Ethyl acetate extract.

Crystalize ✨

Drop (do not stir) citric acid into extract. Clouds form, followed after a few hours by mescaline citrate crystals (Fig. 4). Allow crystalization to complete undisturbed (~12 hours).


IMG 20210609 064813073 copy 800x600 1.jpg
Fig. 4: Crystals in ethyl acetate (macro lens image).

Collect πŸ’–

Swirl crystalized extract to knock off crystals from walls and dissolve any remaining citric acid granules. Catch floating crystals in a coffee filter. Wash with ethyl acetate twice and dry (Fig. 5).


Yield depends on the cactus and is usually between 0.2% to 2% with ~1% being common[2].


IMG 20210603 130102387 copy 600x800 copy 800x600.jpg
Fig. 5: Final mescaline citrate crystals.


Mass spectrometry (MS) results from solaris analytical[3] indicate the product is very clean mescaline (Fig. 6).


Cactus-extract copy 800x600 1.jpg
Fig. 6: Mass spectrometry result. Peak near 210.5 is mescaline. Lower mass peaks are mescaline with cleaved functional groups. The peak at 239.5 is not attributed to mescaline.

Reclaim Solvent πŸ’š

Reusing solvents is encouraged[4] at the DMT nexus.


Wash spent extract with sodium carbonate saturated water shaking vigorously (emulsions do not form). Citric acid removal is complete when CO2 bubbling stops. Filter any excess calcium carbonate and remove water layer. Freeze and filter out ice crystals. Store for reuse.

Appendix: Development Notes πŸ”¬

Paste 🌡

No improvements were seen with longer basing time, microwaving, drying, or increasing the ionic strength.

Extract πŸ‘¨πŸΎβ€πŸ”¬

Longer/warmer pulls resulted in darker extract, smaller crystals, and more absorbed solvent with no yield benefit.


Chemically drying the extract before salting had no crystallization or yield benefit.

Crystalize ✨

During crystallization, every 233mg of citric acid (H3Cit) react with free base mescaline (Mes) to form to 1g of mescaline citrate (or slightly more if a hydrate is precipitating):


3Mes(↑) + H3Cit(↑) β‡’ 3(MesH)Cit(↓)


Excess citric acid shifts the precipitation reaction to the right (Le Chatelier's principle), helping overcome water and plant material. There is a lot room for excess citric acid in solution since its solubility is 50mg/g in ethyl acetate. The TEK recommends ~5mg/g but since cacti and pull techniques can vary, users may find other values work better for their specific situation (in one example with whole cactus powder 20mg/g was used [5]).


Several factors can make crystals smaller: Reusing ethyl acetate, longer/warmer pulls, higher citric acid concentration, mechanical agitation, and other potential variables. Small crystals can look like a fine powder. Potency does not seem affected by the crystallization appearance, and a powdery precipitate is not a problem unless it becomes difficult to decant/filter.


After the initial crystallization, adding more citric acid and/or moving the extract to the refrigerator did not result in any more precipitation. Moving the extract to the freezer produced ice crystals.


Other dry organic acids could work. Fumaric, Malic, Tartaric, Ascorbic, Succinic, etc can be tested in future investigations.

Collect πŸ’–

Washing crystals over a filter gave better results than decanting. The filter paper wicked away plant off colors forming a ring. Unlike the pulls, warmer ethyl acetate is preferred for the wash because the goal is to dissolve plant matter.


The jar wash should be done immediately. If any straggler crystals dry in the jar they may stick to the wall. To recover, dissolve them in hot water, dry in a shallow dish, and scrape.

References πŸ—οΈ

  1. ↑ Ethyl acetate safety[1]
  2. ↑ Cactus analysis thread[2]
  3. ↑ Solaris analytical service[3]
  4. ↑ On reusing non polar solvent[4]
  5. ↑ Ethyl acetate approach[5]