Most plants contain several alkaloids. Their mixture is extracted first and then individual alkaloids are separated.Grinkevich, p. 132 Plants are thoroughly ground before extraction.Grinkevich, p. 5 Most alkaloids are present in the raw plants in the form of salts of organic acids. The extracted alkaloids may remain salts or change into bases. Base extraction is achieved by processing the raw material with alkaline solutions and extracting the alkaloid bases with organic solvents, such as 1,2-dichloroethane, chloroform, diethyl ether or benzene. Then, the impurities are dissolved by weak acids; this converts alkaloid bases into salts that are washed away with water. If necessary, an aqueous solution of alkaloid salts is again made alkaline and treated with an organic solvent. The process is repeated until the desired purity is achieved.
Most plants contain several alkaloids Their mixture is extracted first and then individual alkaloids are separatedGrinkevich p 132 Plants are thoroughly ground before extractionGrinkevich p 5 Most alkaloids are present in the raw plants in the form of salts of organic acids The extracted alkaloids may remain salts or change into bases Base extraction is achieved by processing the raw material with alkaline solutions and extracting the alkaloid bases with organic solvents such as 12-dichloroethane chloroform diethyl ether or benzene Then the impurities are dissolved by weak acids; this converts alkaloid bases into salts that are washed away with water If necessary an aqueous solution of alkaloid salts is again made alkaline and treated with an organic solvent The process is repeated until the desired purity is achieved