The decomposition of acidic and neutral cannabinoids in organic solvents.
High-pressure liquid chromatography was used to study (a) the relative efficiencies of methanol, chloroform, light petroleum (B.P. 40-60 degrees) and methanol-chloroform (9:1) for extracting neutral and acidic cannabinoids from cannabis resin; (b) the decomposition patterns of the resulting solutions under various storage conditions, and (c) the cannabinoid profile of a cross section through a block of cannabis resin. The results show that (a) methanol is the most effective extracting solvent of those tested; (b) acidic cannabinoids in solution decompose in darkness by varying amounts depending on the temperature, solvent, storage time and particular cannabinoid; (c) neutral cannabinoids in solution are relatively stable in darkness; (d) daylight causes appreciable decomposition of both acidic and neutral cannabinoids in solution, (e) the cannabinoid profile of a resin is complex with lower levels of acidic material in the outer layers.
D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis*; D002188:Cannabis / Q000032:analysis; D003624:Darkness; D004355:Drug Stability; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D012997:Solvents; D013472:Sunlight; D013696:Temperature
D002186:Cannabinoids; D012997:Solvents