Moe.Red
- 5,044
- 313
That's awesome dude. Sorry this is a PITA, try buying Chloroform in bulk...I called them to see if they might still sell 5 grams, and was told that they don't ship to residential addresses.
But I finally found a company that would, they state it on their website. I also discovered something very interesting - and money saving. There are two different types of Fast Blue BB with different CAS numbers. You said you were using CAS 120-00-3 - there is also one ' CAS 5486-84-0 - Fast Blue BB Salt hemi(zinc chloride) salt' which does not need to be frozen or even refrigerated. I had my doubts, but the data sheet said it is used in TLC testing of cannabinoids. I got five grams for $50 something shipped. The company I got it from is called 'Chemsavers' (just add a dot com) I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here.
So anyway I got everything together for the price of one of those kits that will allow me to do more tests, than I'll ever need. I did my first one last night with my homegrown Jack the Ripper , and a commercial Durban Poison. It didn't come out so great - very weak and fuzzy. I'm not sure, but I am unsure of the timing in the eluent and the dye bath. Try try again!
View attachment 1115044
So you didn't ask me, but I hate to see people struggle so let me give you a couple bits of feedback.
#1 - you have a usable result! may not be exactly what you had hoped, but there is data there. Here's what I am seeing:
The samples do not look like they are decarbed. Since you are working with aluminum plates, your only option is to do that decarb prior to preparing your samples. Why decarb? Because the large oval at the bottom is where all the acids are stuck. So THCa is showing up in the bottom, whereas THC (delta 9) is showing in the larger orange dot. If you were to decarb first, your THC dot would get larger and you will have a more accurate representation of the actual THC percent. The oval at the bottom will go away.
Also, since all the acids are lumped together, you do not really know what is CBDa, THCa, THCVa, CBGa, etc. Decarbing separates those out and moves them up the plate so you can see what you really have.
What I find exciting for you is that you can clearly see multiple minor cannabinoids there already on the right. Those will only get better as you do!
#2 - It looks like on the left there may have been 2 dots laid down rather than one. It takes a steady hand for sure. But that explains the weird shapes in the end result.
#3 - you have a result all the way at the top. Hard to see exactly what because it is off the plate. Making the plate a little longer or letting the eluent run a little less time will move those dots where you can read them. I find 13-15 minutes on a 20cm plate is about perfect.
#4 - I don't think you want to scrape a line across the silica like that or even write deeply directly under your lane. Basically you want the eluent to wick up as evenly and precisely as possible. When it has to jump over gaps and things like that, you are going to get some potentially unpredictable results.
But seriously, that is a really cool result. I see THCv, CBG, CBC, and obviously THC. Your Jack the Ripper may actually be a better mix if you try again, that Durban tho - thats what we like to see! I'm jealous. Congrats on getting started on this.