Ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but can someone explain to me why the following extraction procedure should not work?

The pKa of Spice is 8.68, which means that it will be in its acidic form (protonated , with a positive charge) when it is in water with pH 7.

So what about the following procedure from extracting it? :

1) Mix powdered root bark with water. If you want a pH of even less than 7, just add some acid. Then, since the Spice has a pKa of 8.68, it will dissolve in the water.

2) Let this mixture stand for a few hours and stir sometimes. Then strain the water off using a cheesecloth or even finer cloth to get rid of the plant material. Collect the liquid (which should have your acidified Spice dissolved in it).

3) Make the spice precipitate out of solution by adding enough NaOH or other base to raise the pH of the water to above 8.68 (maybe 12 to be safe?)

4) Pour the water through a coffee filter, which should collect the Spice in it while removing the water.

5) Let it dry.

Ok, so I haven't tried this procedure, but I don't really see what's theoretically wrong with it? It would eliminate the need to use a non-polar solvent. I apologize if this is a completely stupid question, and I've overlooked something obvious, but do you think this would work?

Thanks, and curious to hear your opinions.

You'll find it incredibly hard to filter that plant material properly without a coffee filter and even then it wont be very clean. I have seen FASA re-conversions in the WIKI that filter freebase purely from water, have a search for it.