Cannabis

Chemistry Based Links

Keynote: The Chemistry Behind Cannabinoid Acids

Professor Raphael Mechoulam

Hebrew University

Center on Cannabinoid Research

56 min

Oct 9, 2019

ACS - Cannabis & The Chemist

July 17, 2017

3 min

Emerald/Perkin Elmer Webinar

News Links

Lake Superior State University - News Story

Link to Program

Nov 2019

Cannabis Research

Importance of Testing Cannabis

Hemp vs. Marijuana

If the concentration of the cannabis material is over 0.3 WT% it is considered marijuana. If the concentration of the cabbages material is under 0.3 WT% it is considered hemp.

Marijuana is used for medicinal uses such as a pain reliever for cancer patiences. Also, many other cannabinoids are used for joint pain and other treatments.

Hemp's primary function is for using its plant material for thread to make T-Shirts, rope, textiles, and many other uses.

Growing Hemp Material

Farmers need to know the THC concentrations of their cannabis material. Therefore, the FDA will not shut them down. For example, if the THC concentration is above the 0.3 WT% they will have a whole field of marijuana and not hemp.

https://www.healthline.com/health/hemp-vs-marijuana

Structures of Cannabinoids

CBD

CBDa

Figure 1: CBDa Electrostatic potential

THC

THCa

Method Development

Handling of Plant Material

Before the plant is analyzed there are many steps to insure the best data outcome. This process is important because we do not want impurities in the solution, also we want the highest concentration of the cannabinoids that are present in the plant material.

Method of Analysis

1) Manicure the plant

2) Use the grinder to grind up the sample

3) Empty the grinder into a glass jar

4) Weigh out 0.100 g / 100mg on an analytical balance

5) Place the 0.100 g of the sample into a falcon tube and add 5ml of Methanol (make sure all of the sample makes it into the tube)

6) Put the falcon tube onto the shaker (30min) for the max RPM

7) Use a filter syringe to filter out the liquid from the plant material. (Place filter on the syringe after the liquid is taken out of the tube)

8) Use the syringe to put the liquid into a HPLC testing capsule

9) Place the capsule into the HPLC

10) Run the sample with the standards of the cannabinoids that should be present with the sample

11) Collect the data and plot the peaks on Igor

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical-documents/articles/analytical/food-beverage/analysis-of-cannabinoids.html

High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method Development

The HPLC detector should be set at 270nm

The detector needs to be set at the correct wavelength because if it is not set at the wavelength the cannabinoids peaks will not appear.

This can be done by running the sample through the UV-Vis to see the lambda max. This will show you the highest wavelength that this cannabinoids will elute off the column.