In a February 2020 study published in the Journal of Natural Products, Sherwood et al. describe their work synthesizing and studying four lesser-known magic mushroom (aka psilocybin mushroom) compounds; aeruginascin, norpsilocin, baeocystin, and norbaeocystin.1 These researchers have advanced the state of the art of psilocybin derivatives with this scientific study. The authors write that the new synthesis method is providing for the first time “materials for systematic pharmacological screening.”
They note a key improvement in their synthesis method compared to previous work, which eliminates the need to purify the compounds by using chromatography. Their method isolates the compounds by precipitating them from a pH-adjusted aqueous solution via the addition of acetone.