EC-11. Characterization of Colorado Sourced Commercial CBD Isolates

Abstract
CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that is derived from hemp. Pre-clinical and clinical studies show that it possesses beneficial properties for treatment of a wide variety of ailments. Studies have used various CBD sources, purities and dosages. Product consistency is critical to efficacy as wells as safety and is an area of concern given a lack of well-characterized standards and protocols. In this study, purity of several commercially produced CBD isolates from Colorado were evaluated. Among these samples most were produced from primary supercritical fluid carbon dioxide extraction but at least one was from using iso-propyl alcohol and one was from using ethyl alcohol. NMR was used for purity assays because of the quality of results it produces as well as its ease of use. HPLC-TOF-MS was used for identification of impurities. In NMR analysis, a highly pure, stable, non-cannabinoid and certified reference material is used for quantitation by the internal standard method. This technique eliminates dilution and injection errors, as well as reducing negative impacts from sample and standard degradation. All CBD isolates were found to contain similar impurities and all met the requirements of recent Department of Agriculture rule, requiring concentrations of less than 0.3 mass % Δ9THC. Isolates produced from supercritical fluid carbon dioxide were generally purer. One sample produced from ethanol extraction contained significantly more odor and acquired a slight brownish tinge over time. An extraction technique developed in our lab was found to remediate the odor and color of this sample, even removing all traces of THC. One unknown at ~ 1% mass was found in some samples, having the molecular formula C21H32O3 for which we have not yet been able to definitively assign a structure. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that highly-pure commercially-available CBD isolates are being produced, but it is possible to make purer isolates. Continuing work is required for further characterization.