Cannabinoids, naturally occurring compounds found mainly in cannabis and hemp, have seen significant research as potential new therapeutics during the past four to five years with the passing of the 2018 Hemp Farming Act bill. Initially, cannabidiol (CBD) was the primary cannabinoid of interest and many entrepreneurs created businesses to help support growing demand. To produce CBD, extraction, distillation, and purification equipment, including flash chromatography systems, are all needed during the workflow.

Cannabicitran is one of many minor cannabinoids found in cannabis though not much is known about this compound as far as possible medicinal benefits.

Cannabidiolic acid, or CBDA, has purported analgesic properties relieving pain and inflammation[1]. CBDA is also the starting material for CBD which is produced through a procedure called decarboxylation using heat but which can also degrade CBD generating yield losses[2].

Cannabinoid isolation requires several steps from harvesting the biomass to extraction, winterization, decarboxylation (if desired), distillation, and finally chromatographic purification and isolation of the desired cannabinoids. It is during the chromatography step where water is introduced which, as we all know, can be challenging to remove from the desired cannabinoid by distillation or other evaporative technologies.

Flash chromatography is the go-to cannabinoid purification technique because of its effectiveness and relative ease of use. This technology can easily remove THC from CBD in a process known as THC remediation. Flash chromatography is also used to separate and isolate other cannabinoids as well (CBN, CBC, CBG, CBDA, CBCT, etc.).

Cannabichromene (CBC) is one of the four most prevalent cannabinoids expressed by cannabis plants (Pollastro, 2018). Unlike the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, CBC is benign in this regard, but does have purported health benefits.

Cannabidiol or CBN, is a cannabinoid of interest because of its potential in medicinal applications. However, CBN is not expressed by cannabis plants in high yields and is actually formed from degraded (oxidized) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

As one of the major cannabinoids present in cannabis, Cannabigerol (CBG), is gaining interest as possible therapeutic. Though all other cannabinoids are created from CBGA (the acid form of CBG), it is metabolized to CBG and then primarily to THC or CBD, depending on the plant species.

In recent years, most of the interest in the medicinal cannabis market  has been focused on CBD (THC-free) and, to a lesser extent, THC. However, the market needs are changing with increasing interest now seen in the so-called minor cannabinoids. In this post, I will focus on cannabinol (CBN).

This article contains information relating to the science, process and economics of CBD and THC processing.