Process for production of essentially pure Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol from cannabidiol extracted from hemp

A process of producing Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, comprising providing a source of cannabidiol extract, adding a catalyst and organic solvent to create a reaction mixture, wherein the catalyst is selected from Zinc Chloride, Hydrochloric acid, Sulfuric acid, Zinc Bromide, Boron Trifluoride, Boron Trifluoride Diethyl Etherate, p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate, and a combination thereof, refluxing the reaction mixture for a specified time under acidic conditions, neutralizing the reaction, recovering a solvent product, and distilling the solvent product to obtain a crude Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol oil having >99% purity,

• wherein the refluxing is selected from the group consisting of a broad reflux performed for between 0.5 to 48 hours, a medium range reflux performed for between 60 to 180 min, and a specific reflux performed for approximately 120 min, and wherein the resulting crude Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol oil is further purified using fractional, vacuum, short path, molecular, and/or wiped film distillation,
• wherein the dilution ratio of the cannabidiol extract to the organic solvent is 3 to 6 on a weight basis wherein the source cannabidiol extract is cannabidiol crude, cannabidiol isolate or cannabidiol distillate, wherein the organic solvent is toluene, wherein the catalyst is 2.6% of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate, and wherein the refluxing is performed for between 60 to 180 minutes at a reaction temperature selected from the group consisting of a range between 50° C. to 100° C., a range between 60° C. to 80° C., and approximately 70° C.

A process, comprising:

• dissolving 5 kg to 500 kg of cannabidiol isolate with 25 to 250 liters of toluene to form a solution;
• loading the solution into a reaction vessel and heating;
• adding p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (1 kg to 2 kg) to the reaction vessel and refluxing at 60° C.-80° C. for 100-150 minutes;
• quenching the mixture with aqueous 10% NaHCO3, and then adding purified water;
• evaporating the mixture to collect a crude oil having greater than 90% Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol;
• loading the crude oil into a short path vacuum distillation system having Raschig rings in a condensing head and heating to remove residual solvent and terpenes and obtain a clear distillate;
• loading the clear distillate into a wiped film distillation unit and collecting a distilled oil having greater than 99% Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol.