The state-of-the-art process to convert CBD to THC is ill-suited to meet surging demand for THC isomers – delta 8, 10, 12-THC – for medicinal applications and food/beverage CPG.

The current state-of-the-art to convert CBD to THC uses carcinogenic and mutagenic aprotic solvents (e.g., toluene, heptane, benzene) to extract THC from CBD in solution post-catalysis. The SOTA process is complex, with CBD solution prep, quenching, washing, solvent recovery, and remediation. Variants of the SOTA require oxygen- and moisture-free reaction conditions for safety and maximum yield.

The use of copious hazardous chemicals that require special handling in highly exothermic reactions, necessitates a C1D1-level facility for the conversion of CBD to THC in an acidic solution, a C1D2 facility to extract the THC using aprotic solvents, and equipment costing millions to set up a lab with capacity to produce 25L/day.

Common solution chemistry-based conversion processes are ill-suited to yield THC that can be used medicinally, or incorporated into food and beverage consumer packaged goods (CPG).

1. Reaction is not scalable – The number of critical steps and the requirements for handling and disposing of hazardous solvents make it difficult to produce THC in commercial volume without significant investments in equipment and facilities.
2. Reaction is not GMP certifiable –
3. Reaction output is not tunable – The solution chemistry reaction must be run to completion due to large volume and high cost of solvents to dissolve CBD and H+ catalyst.
4. Reaction output not certifiable as New Dietary Ingredient for inclusion in food and beverage CPG

C-Click’s patented conversion process is ideally suited to production of THC from CBD at industrial scale. The process is rapid, safe, economical in number of steps and volume of solvents used, and free of toxic solvents and reagents. Not surprisingly, catalysis chemistry methods applied in this novel way to produce THC from CBD are easily and inexpensively scalable.

C-Click’s conversion line consists of a 40L reactor vessel, pumps and heaters, a proprietary filtration column, and a wiped film machine for post-processing. The model line fits easily in a 1,000 sq ft facility, and costs < $200,000. The model line can produce 80L of THC distillate per 8-hour shift.

Crucially, catalysis chemistry methods yield reaction products with a virtually infinite number of delta 8-THC-to-delta 9-THC ratios. Desired ratios can be achieved via manipulation of run time, temperature, catalyst type, and CBD-to-THC ratio. The following tables illustrate reaction tunability using the WHITE solid catalyst to produce delta 8-THC and the BLACK solid catalyst to produce delta 9-THC.

After reaction parameters have been associated with the potency, cannabinoid ratio, and side products of the resulting THC distillate, the conversion process will yield THC distillate with the same characteristics as the reaction product from the initial run. Tunability and product consistency at scale are core features that differentiate catalysis and solution chemistry methods for producing THC from CBD.

The culmination of the advantages of catalysis chemistry vs. solution chemistry is significantly lower cost/L of THC distillate produced from CBD feedstock.