Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Rotenone extraction and isolation


	Not logged in [Login ]

FAQ

Member List

Today's Posts Forum Stats

Stats

Back to:

Sciencemadness Discussion Board » Fundamentals » Organic Chemistry » Rotenone extraction and isolation

Printable Version

trip96

Harmless

Posts: 16
Registered: 23-7-2012
Member Is Offline

Mood: No Mood

posted on 24-9-2012 at 05:34

Rotenone extraction and isolation

Hi guys! Good morning.

I have a cool project to share with you all and I am asking for input.

I grow potatoes on my small hobby farm. My potatoes eventually get eaten by potatoe bugs. Rotenone is a great organic pesticide. I wish to extract rotenone from a variety of plant. Looking at wiki I chose to extract from Goat's Rue. (Check wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotenone). I am new to chemistry so this is my basic method I have come up with.

I am going to soxhlet extract with 95% ethanol.

Then I plan on doing an acid base extraction but I doubt this will work as rotenone is not an alkaloid. What would you use to further purify or isolate rotenone. I do not have the skills or access to a column for chromatography.

All I need is a form pure enough to powder or spray the stems of my potatoes. Of course the solvent cannot kill the potatoe itself either.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks again science madness.

watson.fawkes

International Hazard

Posts: 2793
Registered: 16-8-2008
Member Is Offline

Mood: No Mood

posted on 24-9-2012 at 06:37

Quote: Originally posted by trip96

I grow potatoes on my small hobby farm. My potatoes eventually get eaten by potatoe bugs. Rotenone is a great organic pesticide. I wish to extract rotenone from a variety of plant. [...]
What would you use to further purify or isolate rotenone. I do not have the skills or access to a column for chromatography.

I really doubt you need any further extraction than what you're planning. In fact, you might be able to get away with simply a good maceration of the plant material in a blender and then spraying on the resulting slurry. The other stuff in the plant shouldn't cause any chemical problems.

Regardless, as for a carrier for the rotenone, look at the horticultural oils that can be applied to plants in leaf. They're designed to emulsify readily in water for use in ordinary sprayers and have chemistry compatible with the cuticle layer of the leaf. Since rotenone is lipophilic, it's likely to dissolve in horticultural oil.

Sciencemadness Discussion Board » Fundamentals » Organic Chemistry » Rotenone extraction and isolation