What’s Involved in Extracting Ibogaine?

In June 2023, organizers of the Psychedelic Science conference in Colorado expect to welcome nearly 10,000 attendees who are interested in the therapeutic properties of hallucinogenic substances such as ibogaine. NFL star quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the high-profile speakers scheduled for this conference. At 38, Rodgers has been named the league’s Most Valuable Player four times, and he credits his participation in psychedelic therapy with helping him improve his performance on the field. For other individuals, ibogaine may help with overcoming addictions, treating depression, and alleviating post-traumatic stress. This psychoactive substance is one of the various alkaloids extracted from two shrubs native to the equatorial regions of Africa.

Indigenous Extraction of Ibogaine

While observing the lives and customs of Bwiti tribes in 19th-century Gabon, a French explorer who also happened to be a botanist identified the hallucinogenic properties of ibogaine. Young Bwiti men are expected to grow into brave hunters who can feed their clans, and they go through a rite of passage that involves consuming the powdered root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga tree. The traditional method of extraction involves drying the root, shaving off the bark, and reducing it to powder through a milling method. Among Bwiti clans living in the western regions of Gabon, closer to Equatorial Guinea, ibogaine is extracted from Voacanga africana, a sister shrub of Tabernanthe iboga.

Isolation of Ibogaine

Similar to many other substances extracted from plants with medicinal and therapeutic properties, ibogaine achieved pharmaceutical status long before it was synthesized. An ibogaine tincture called Lambarene was sold in French and Belgian pharmacies to treat various ailments as early as 1930, but that was the result of isolating ibogaine through a method that involved the use of lime, water, ether, and caustic soda. This method of extraction isolates the ibogaine psychoactive compound, but it doesn’t purify it. The yield using this extraction method is about 6 to 10 grams of ibogaine per kilogram of iboga plant matter.

Synthesis of Ibogaine

The anti-addictive properties of ibogaine were discovered just a few years before the first method of synthesis was published in a scientific journal in the mid-1960s. In fact, the anecdotal research on how ibogaine helped a group of American heroin addicts kick their harmful addictions prompted ethnobotanists to work with chemistry researchers on the synthesis process. The main solvent used for extraction prior to synthesis was acetone. These days, however, hydrochloric acid and methanol are used instead because they’re more efficient. The goal is to always produce a purified hydrochloride powder.

From Voacangine to Ibogaine

As mentioned above, the Voacanga africana species can also yield ibogaine because scientists have figured out that voacangine is a precursor chemical compound. In this case, the extraction process of voacangine is achieved through the use of acetone to isolate the compound and synthesize it into pure ibogaine through an elaborate laboratory process. The yield of voacangine to ibogaine is actually higher with this more complex synthesis, which in the end is more pharmaceutically viable. 

The medical use of ibogaine has an extensive history, and it’s currently used in private practice by some integrative and conventional physicians as well as in some licensed medical centers and, on occasion, in hospital settings. During ibogaine therapy, monitoring by medical professionals can greatly reduce the risks of ibogaine therapy, and many ibogaine therapy providers incorporate medical support in their treatments. For people who choose to be treated in ibogaine clinics Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil are among the countries where the treatment is legally available.