Washing Spice

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Washing Spice

The purpose of washing is to disperse impurities off of the product or out of a solution containing the product and into an intermediate solvent.

Alkaline Solution Washing of Inactive Impurities

Most of the impurities that plague yields tend to be quite soluble in both alkaline aqueous solutions and non-polar solvents. To remove these impurities, an imbalance in equilibrium must be created between these two types of solutions, causing the impurities to disperse into a disposable solution from the solution containing the product. This procedure is commonly used for purifying product from extractions that utilize naphtha or heptane to obtain a whiter product.

Washing Spice of Inactive Impurities Using Alkaline Solution

Saturate a solution of warm water with a weak base such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or sodium carbonate (washing soda) to render an alkaline solution. sodium bicarbonate can be converted to sodium carbonate. Dissolve product in an NPS of preference. Add alkaline solution to the NPS at a ratio of about 1:4 and mix thoroughly. Remove the top NPS layer, and proceed to recrystallization procedure of preference.

Solvent Washing and Isolation of Active Impurities

Removal of active impurities generally relies strictly on differences of their solubility or insolubility in specific solvents. Most notably, Jungle Spice may be removed from DMT using particular solvents such as naphtha or heptane.