Pretty much every other day, we’re finding about some new part, or some new invention, of the cannabis plant. One of the more interesting ones to make news recently? THC-O-Acetate. Here, we’ll go into what this psychedelic compound is, how THC-O-Acetate was discovered, and the military abuses that went along with it.
The psychedelic THC-O-Acetate sure sounds interesting, and goes to show just how many different products can be made from cannabis. Compounds like that one, THCV, Delta-8 THC and Delta 10 are the newer face of the cannabis industry. We support the expansion of cannabis use, and have some really great deals for delta-8 THC and many other compounds. Take a look at our selection, and join the cutting edge of marijuana use.
What is THC-O-Acetate?
THC-O-Acetate is what’s called an acetate ester of delta-9 THC. Let’s break that down. So, we’ve got our standard delta-9 THC to begin with. This is the main psychoactive part of the cannabis plant, which is produced naturally through the decarboxylation of its parent compound THCA. We also already know of slightly different versions of this compound. We know that if you move the double bond in delta-9, that it creates a stereoisomer like delta-8, or delta-10, or delta-7 THC. We know that if you eat it, it gets metabolized into something slightly different – 11-hydroxy-THC. We even know that CBD is a direct isomer of delta-9 sharing the exact same chemical formula, but with a different configuration of atoms.
So, what does it mean to have an acetate ester? Well, this is where it gets to slightly higher-level chemistry, which might be hard to understand, but which should be gone over briefly. Interested parties can investigate further for a better understanding. Basically, an acetate ester is a product of a form of decarboxylation called LTA decarboxylation. We know decarboxylation means losing a carboxyl group, but there are different ways for this to happen.
The one we are most familiar with when dealing with cannabis, is heat/time induced decarboxylation, but there are other processes by which decarboxylation happens using chemicals instead. One is LTA decarboxylation, which uses lead tetraacetate (very toxic), a compound that promotes oxidation, to create oxidative decarboxylation. One of the byproducts of this, is acetate ester. This acetate ester does not occur naturally in nature, and must be synthesized from the chemical processing of delta-9, or THCA. THC-O-Acetate is a synthetic analogue of delta-9.
It is said that this compound is 2-3X the potency of standard delta-9, and that unlike other known cannabinoids, there is a psychedelic effect produced by THC-O-Acetate. Also, unlike standard delta-9, THC-O-Acetate’s effect can take about 30 minutes to kick in. So where did this compound come from, and why do we know about it anyway? Well, that sure is one messed up story!
Edgewood Arsenal human experiments & the US Military
Much like many other compounds we’re only widely hearing about now, like delta-8 and delta-10, THC-O-Acetate was discovered several decades back, sometime between 1949-1974. In 1974, the above referenced instructions for synthesis were put out by Dr. Gold, in which he dubbed the compound with the name THC-O-Acetate. If it seems like 1949-1974 is quite a big window, and not terribly specific,…
Credit:Source link