Kratom Kratom Extraction and isolation of Mitragynine

[Didgital]

So I'm actually getting kicked out of my house for making a very similar post a while back. I developed a process to isolate Mitragynine, and my roomate was in the process of selling the process to a company for a lot of money. I didn't really feel comfortable with the situation, so I released the it online for free for everyone. I ended up deleting the posts, but i might as well repost it. Oddly I posted it in R/ Kratom and the moderators deleted the post, I suspect because they have their own kratom companies and don't want people to know this information. So I'm putting it here, hopefully people can use the information. Disclaimer, theres definitely toxic and flammable solvents, so no one should attempt this without proper PPE and safety knowledge beforehand

Primary Extraction is macerating the kratom powder in warm methanol for at least 3 hours. Evaporation of the solvent leaves a very crude product that usually tests around 20% mitragynine. The crude product is then dissolved in pH 2 acid. Acetic or even plain vinegar will work for this. Some of the product will not dissolve, filter the gunk or decant the solution from the insoluble material. The solution can be extracted or "washed" using a non polar solvent like heptane. Discard the non polar solvent. Slowly add concentrated NaOH/Lye and the freebase alkaloids will precipitate out of the solution, and can either be filtered or extracted with a non polar solvent and then evaporated. This material usually tests around 50% mitragynine with 20% other alkaloids like speciocillatine, paynantheine, isorhynchophylline, and speciogynine etc. It's usually a gold powder at this point.

Now the real innovation that I came up with. I basically applied a CRC type process. For those who dont know CRC (stands for Color Remediation Cartridge) is a process that is often used in the cannabis industry to remediate dark oils. Basically, the extract is dissolved in a solvent and that solvent is then run through Silica 60. I noticed when doing TLC (Thin layer chromatography) with kratom, that the mitragynine elutes first, then the other alkaloids. I use this to my advantage, and using a ghetto version of column chromatography, with a 3:2 Hexane/Ethyl acetate. I would actually bind the kratom extract to silica, then deposit this on the top of the column packed with silica, then run the solvent through the column. The first volume that passes through the column, will not contain any alkaloids. The second and 3rd volume will contain just mitragynine and no other alkaloids. TLC and UV can be used to determine the exact point that the mitragynine is eluting. If i remember correctly, the mitragynine solution turns blue under UV so you don't really even need to use TLC, though it very useful. After it is all eluted, evaporate the solvent for a material that is typically around 85% mitragynine. the column can be flushed with just ethyl acetate, and after evaporation, you can recover and concentrate the minor alkaloids. If i really tried, I could probably isolate and separate them, but I've yet to try that. The material can be recrystallized in boiling isopropyl alcohol. Each crystallization will bring potency up, end result is a white powder that is essentially tasteless. That was one of the main reasons the company wanted to buy the process, is that most kratom extracts taste like shit. All of the pigments and shitty tasting compounds do not move through the column.

So I'm actually 100% positive that some or one of the minor alkaloids or maybe combinations of them are pretty toxic. I say this because I made 2 extracts a high purity MIT and then a mixed alkaloid extract. I gave a girlfriend 100mg of the 93% and she immediately wanted to build me a lab and invest in me. The next day I gave her 200mg of the full spectrum which had 30% Mitragynine and 30% other alkaloids. She got terribly sick and could not get out of bed for an entire day. I've taken up to 200mg of the pure mitragynine and felt no danger of overdose. It has to be one of the other alkaloids that gets you sick.
Anyway, they were gonna give me 100k for, so its pretty valuable information plus I'm getting kicked out of my house over it so... Hopefully someone will use this information to make some great medicine.

Power to the People!

Oh yeah the true chemist can oxidize the pure mitragynine into the much more potent 7-OH-Mitragynine and psuedoindoxyl analogures. Haven't done that yet, but it seems like a pretty easy synthesis. I hear its very very nice material, and quite potent.

 

[negrogesic]

So I'm actually getting kicked out of my house for making a very similar post a while back. I developed a process to isolate Mitragynine, and my roomate was in the process of selling the process to a company for a lot of money. I didn't really feel comfortable with the situation, so I released the it online for free for everyone. I ended up deleting the posts, but i might as well repost it. Oddly I posted it in R/ Kratom and the moderators deleted the post, I suspect because they have their own kratom companies and don't want people to know this information. So I'm putting it here, hopefully people can use the information. Disclaimer, theres definitely toxic and flammable solvents, so no one should attempt this without proper PPE and safety knowledge beforehand

Primary Extraction is macerating the kratom powder in warm methanol for at least 3 hours. Evaporation of the solvent leaves a very crude product that usually tests around 20% mitragynine. The crude product is then dissolved in pH 2 acid. Acetic or even plain vinegar will work for this. Some of the product will not dissolve, filter the gunk or decant the solution from the insoluble material. The solution can be extracted or "washed" using a non polar solvent like heptane. Discard the non polar solvent. Slowly add concentrated NaOH/Lye and the freebase alkaloids will precipitate out of the solution, and can either be filtered or extracted with a non polar solvent and then evaporated. This material usually tests around 50% mitragynine with 20% other alkaloids like speciocillatine, paynantheine, isorhynchophylline, and speciogynine etc. It's usually a gold powder at this point.

Now the real innovation that I came up with. I basically applied a CRC type process. For those who dont know CRC (stands for Color Remediation Cartridge) is a process that is often used in the cannabis industry to remediate dark oils. Basically, the extract is dissolved in a solvent and that solvent is then run through Silica 60. I noticed when doing TLC (Thin layer chromatography) with kratom, that the mitragynine elutes first, then the other alkaloids. I use this to my advantage, and using a ghetto version of column chromatography, with a 3:2 Hexane/Ethyl acetate. I would actually bind the kratom extract to silica, then deposit this on the top of the column packed with silica, then run the solvent through the column. The first volume that passes through the column, will not contain any alkaloids. The second and 3rd volume will contain just mitragynine and no other alkaloids. TLC and UV can be used to determine the exact point that the mitragynine is eluting. If i remember correctly, the mitragynine solution turns blue under UV so you don't really even need to use TLC, though it very useful. After it is all eluted, evaporate the solvent for a material that is typically around 85% mitragynine. the column can be flushed with just ethyl acetate, and after evaporation, you can recover and concentrate the minor alkaloids. If i really tried, I could probably isolate and separate them, but I've yet to try that. The material can be recrystallized in boiling isopropyl alcohol. Each crystallization will bring potency up, end result is a white powder that is essentially tasteless. That was one of the main reasons the company wanted to buy the process, is that most kratom extracts taste like shit. All of the pigments and shitty tasting compounds do not move through the column.

So I'm actually 100% positive that some or one of the minor alkaloids or maybe combinations of them are pretty toxic. I say this because I made 2 extracts a high purity MIT and then a mixed alkaloid extract. I gave a girlfriend 100mg of the 93% and she immediately wanted to build me a lab and invest in me. The next day I gave her 200mg of the full spectrum which had 30% Mitragynine and 30% other alkaloids. She got terribly sick and could not get out of bed for an entire day. I've taken up to 200mg of the pure mitragynine and felt no danger of overdose. It has to be one of the other alkaloids that gets you sick.
Anyway, they were gonna give me 100k for, so its pretty valuable information plus I'm getting kicked out of my house over it so... Hopefully someone will use this information to make some great medicine.

Power to the People!

Oh yeah the true chemist can oxidize the pure mitragynine into the much more potent 7-OH-Mitragynine and psuedoindoxyl analogures. Haven't done that yet, but it seems like a pretty easy synthesis. I hear its very very nice material, and quite potent.

Nice information here.

On a side note, does your girlfriend have an opioid tolerance, because 100mg of 93% mitragynine isn't a small dose?

I wonder if the common availability of high purity mitragynine could give rise to semisynthetic compounds

 

[G_Chem]

How stable is mitragynine? Or kratom in general? I’ve got alot of old stuff I’d be willing to try on.

-GC

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I noticed the first one was deleted, but didn't want to ask. Hope you're doing OK bro

 

[Didgital]

Mitragynine really isn't super potent. I feel it just barely at 30mg and it takes over 100mg usually like 140mg area to really rock me. at 140mg I'm almost nodding off like a traditional opioid. The pure MIT is quite different in effect than eating the leaf.

Also haha shes not my girlfriend anymore, i realized too late its a bad idea to form romantic relationships with investor/business partners. She had pretty much zero tolerance, doesn't use opioids or even kratom really

I wonder if the common availability of high purity mitragynine could give rise to semisynthetic compounds

I believe it could, I do think some states are going to start regulating kratom almost in a similar manner to cannabis. Pretty sure technically speaking semi synthetic derivatives are specifically banned. However, if you make a pure compound, it will be difficult to prove that it was synthesized. Ive thought about synthing the 7-hydroxy and then spiking my extracts with it. I've only seen it once on any analysis and I somehow created it as an artifact.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

How stable is mitragynine? Or kratom in general? I’ve got alot of old stuff I’d be willing to try on.

-GC

I've wondered this for awhile because from the studies I've read it says mitragynine breaks down somewhat rapidly in acidic solutions, but all the liquid extracts are sold while sitting in citric acid on the shelf for months.

 

[Didgital]

I noticed the first one was deleted, but didn't want to ask. Hope you're doing OK bro

Yeah my roommate was literally crying, begging me to take them down. The reddit post had like 300 upvotes in like half an hour. I took all my posts down, but it was too late. The company saw that and decided to bail out of the buisness deal. And roommate was upset that I killed the deal, even tho I personally developed the process and introduced him to the people. So im getting the boot. It sucks, but honestly the whole situation has caused me to make some positive life changes. Doing alright, thanks.

 

[Didgital]

I've wondered this for awhile because from the studies I've read it says mitragynine breaks down somewhat rapidly in acidic solutions, but all the liquid extracts are sold while sitting in citric acid on the shelf for months.

Yes they call it acid labile, unstable in acid, so i try to work pretty fast during that part of the process. Then again, I've gotten straight vinegar solutions of kratom extract. The crazy thing is you heat the vinegar and the solution gets saturated that the alkaloids just precipitate out without using base. Could probably extract the leaf with vinegar and basify it should precipitate out, but the volumes required for biomass extraction, I find it easier to do a primary extraction first.

I haven't really done any stability studies on the MIT, but it slowly turned yellow. I think its pretty stable actually. The oxidation product by the way is the 7-Hydroxy so degrading it actually makes a stronger drug.

 

[Didgital]

How stable is mitragynine? Or kratom in general? I’ve got alot of old stuff I’d be willing to try on.

-GC

At one of the places I worked we'd store literal tons in super hot shipping containers for like a year. Still makes good product.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I haven't really done any stability studies on the MIT, but it slowly turned yellow. I think its pretty stable actually. The oxidation product by the way is the 7-Hydroxy so degrading it actually makes a stronger drug.

Very interesting. Some extracts I see for sale have 7-OH added, and very obviously so since it's always at a ratio to MIT magnitutes higher than any plant could provide... like 1:10-20. Natural plant is probably closer to 1:100-1000.

There's a vendor a few hours away from me that obviously does a bit of chemistry with their extracts.

I think the rumor on reddit is they use UV light to convert it, heh.