I have an alkaloid purified from plant origin but it is oily and very difficult to work with. I wonder whether making it to salt form would be better for my further work. Kindly share your thoughts whether or not it is a good idea and also share about the process of converting a free base into its salt form.
Some information about the scale you're working on and procedure you've taken may be helpful. If you're isolating a trace alkaloid from large amounts of plant tissue, then the 'oil' you're observing may be more a function of residue carry over from the solvents you've used in the isolation process. Many organic solvents, like chrloform, ethyl-acetate etc.. have trace amounts of oils in their forumulations, and when you're using tens of liters of solvent to isolate from plant material, this oil can be carried through quite easily.
My suggestion would be to dissolve the oily isolate in something like DMSO. Put that in fresh, acidified (pH 3-4) MilliQ grade water, and extract using some organic. Your alkaloid will stay in the aqueous. You can then using a speed vac, or freeze dryer to remove the aqueous. Assuming the molecule is stable, you could even rotovap it off at elevated temperatures - but I wouldn't suggest that. I generally try to keep phytochemicals at
Hi,
Yes, you could do it in a separatory funnel with diluted HCl, H2SO4, tartaric or citric acid (1-5%). The alkaloids will build salts with the acid and dissolve in the water phase. You should repeat this procedure until the oily phase shows negative reaction for alkaloids. You will then have your alkaloids dissolved in water in the form of salts. Hope this helps. Regards.
Some information about the scale you're working on and procedure you've taken may be helpful. If you're isolating a trace alkaloid from large amounts of plant tissue, then the 'oil' you're observing may be more a function of residue carry over from the solvents you've used in the isolation process. Many organic solvents, like chrloform, ethyl-acetate etc.. have trace amounts of oils in their forumulations, and when you're using tens of liters of solvent to isolate from plant material, this oil can be carried through quite easily.
My suggestion would be to dissolve the oily isolate in something like DMSO. Put that in fresh, acidified (pH 3-4) MilliQ grade water, and extract using some organic. Your alkaloid will stay in the aqueous. You can then using a speed vac, or freeze dryer to remove the aqueous. Assuming the molecule is stable, you could even rotovap it off at elevated temperatures - but I wouldn't suggest that. I generally try to keep phytochemicals at
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