Enantiomeric separation of (R, S)-naproxen by recycling high speed counter-current chromatography with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

Recycling high speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully applied to resolution of (R, S)-naproxen (NAP) using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) as chiral selector. The two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-0.1 mol L(-1) phosphate buffer solution with pH=2.67 (8:2:10, v/v/v) was selected. Influence factors for the chiral separation process were investigated, including concentration of HP-β-CD, equilibrium temperature and pH of aqueous phase. Suitable elution mode was selected for HSCCC enantioseparation of (R, S)-NAP. Under optimum separation conditions, 29 mg of (R, S)-NAP was separated using preparative recycling HSCCC with the molar ratio HP-β-CD/NAP racemate 83:1. Technical details for recycling elution mode were discussed as for chiral HSCCC separation. The purities of both (S)-NAP and (R)-NAP were over 99.5% as determined by HPLC. Enantiomeric excess of (S)-NAP and (R)-NAP reached 99.4%. Recovery for NAP enantiomers from HSCCC fractions was 82-89%, yielding 13 mg of (S)-NAP and 12 mg of (R)-NAP.     

Preparative isolation and purification of two benzoxazinoid glucosides from Acanthus ilicifolius L. by high-speed counter-current chromatography

The first preparative separation of two benzoxazinoids, (2R)-2-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (HBOA-Glc) and (2R)-2-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-4-hydroxy-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIBOA-Glc), by means of high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) from the n-butanol extract of Acanthus ilicifolius L. is presented. The two-phase solvent system containing ethyl acetate-n-butanol-0.5%NH(4)OH (2:3:5, v/v/v, system B) was selected for the one-step HSCCC separation of HBOA-Glc and DIBOA-Glc according to the partition coefficient values (K) for target compounds and the separation factor (alpha) between the two target compounds. In the one-step HSCCC separation using solvent B, from 100mg n-butanol extract of A. ilicifolius, 6.3 mg HBOA-Glc and 6.8 mg DIBOA-Glc were isolated with purities of 90.3% and 80.2%, respectively. In order to obtain the two target compounds with higher purity, a second separation process was developed comprising two steps. In the two-step separation, the sample was first pre-purified by HSCCC using ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:3:5, v/v/v, system A) solvent system and then purified using solvent system B. A 100-mg amount of the n-butanol extracts of A. ilicifolius was separated to yield 5.8 mg of HBOA-Glc and 4.8 mg of DIBOA-Glc with purities of 97.1% and 94.8%, respectively, which were directly used for NMR analyses.     

PREPARATIVE ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION OF FIVE FLAVONOIDS FROM POGOSTEMON CABLIN BENTH BY HIGH-SPEED COUNTERCURRENT CHROMATOGRAPHY AND PREPARATIVE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

High-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) were successively used for the separation of pogostone and four flavonoids from Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. An efficient HSCCC separation was achieved on a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (11:5:11:5, v/v/v/v). Three well-separated peaks were obtained in the HSCCC chromatogram. The first and the second fractions each contained two flavonoids which were further separated by preparative HPLC. Consequently, the separation yielded 11.5 mg of 4', 5-Dihydroxy-3', 7-dimethoxyflavanone at a purity of 99%, 20.3 mg of 5- Hydroxy-7, 3', 4'-trimethoxyflavanone at a purity of 98%, 18 mg of 5, 4'-Dihydroxy-3, 7, 3'-trimethoxyflavone at a purity of 96%, and 8 mg of 5-Hydroxy-3, 7, 4'-tetramethoxyflvone at a purity of 98%. The third HSCCC fraction yielded 18.5 mg of pogostone at a purity of 95%. The chemical structures of these compounds were identified by ESI-MS(n), (1)H-NMR, and (13)C-NMR.     

Preparative separation of high-purity cordycepin from Cordyceps militaris(L.) Link by high-speed countercurrent chromatography

A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) technique in a preparative scale has been applied to separate and purify cordycepin from the extract of Cordyceps militaris(L.) Link by a one-step separation. A high efficiency of HSCCC separation was achieved on a two-phase solvent system of n-hexane-n-butanol-methanol-water (23:80:30:155, v/v/v/v) by eluting the lower mobile phase at a flow rate of 2 ml/min under a revolution speed of 850 rpm. HSCCC separation of 216.2 mg crude sample (contained cordycepin at 44.7% purity after 732 cation-exchange resin clean-up) yielded 64.8 mg cordycepin with purity of 98.9% and 91.7% recovery. Identification of the target compound was performed by UV, IR, MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR.     

Isolation and purification of macrocyclic components from Penicillium fermentation broth by high‐speed counter‐current chromatography

In this paper, high‐speed counter‐current chromatography (HSCCC), assisted with ESI‐MS, was first successfully applied to the preparative separation of three macrolide antibiotics, brefeldin A (12.6 mg, 99.0%), 7′‐O‐formylbrefeldin A (6.5 mg, 95.0%) and 7′‐O‐acetylbrefeldin A (5.0 mg, 92.3%) from the crude extract of the microbe Penicillium SHZK‐15. Considering the chemical nature and partition coefficient (K) values of the three target compounds, a two‐step HSCCC isolation protocol was developed in order to obtain products with high purity. In the two‐step method, the crude ethyl acetate extract was first fractionated and resulted in two peak fractions by HSCCC using solvent system n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (HEMWat) (3:7:5:5 v/v/v/v), then purified using solvent systems HEMWat (3:5:3:5 v/v/v/v) and HEMWat (7:3:5:5 v/v/v/v) for each fraction. The purities and structures of the isolated compounds were determined by HPLC, X‐ray crystallography, ESI‐MS and NMR. The results demonstrated that HSCCC is a fast and efficient technique for systematic isolation of bioactive compounds from the microbes.     

Separation of epigallocatechin and flavonoids from Hypericum perforatum L. by high-speed counter-current chromatography and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) were successively used for the separation of epigallocatechin and flavonoids from Hypericum perforatum L. The two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–methanol–water (10:1:10, v/v) was used for HSCCC. About 900 mg of the crude extract was separated by HSCCC, yielding 7.8 mg of quercitrin at a purity of over 97%, 12.6 mg of quercetin at a purity of over 93%, and 38.9 mg of a mixture of hyperoside, isoquercitrin and miquelianin constituting over 97% of the fraction. A mixture of epigallocatechin and avicularin pooled from three HSCCC runs, a total amount of 54.3 mg, was further separated by prep-HPLC yielding 23.4 mg of epigallocatechin and 15.3 mg of avicularin each at a purity of over 97%.     

Preparative isolation and purification of bergapten and imperatorin from the medicinal plant Cnidium monnieri using high-speed counter-current chromatography by stepwise increasing the flow-rate of the mobile phase

A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method was developed for the preparative separation and purification of bergapten and imperatorin from the Chinese medicinal plant Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson. The crude extract was obtained by extraction with ethanol from the dried fruits of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson under sonication. Preparative HSCCC with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-ethanol-water (5:5:5:5, v/v/v/v) was successfully performed by increasing the flow-rate of the mobile phase stepwise from 1.0 to 2.0 ml min(-1) after 180 min. The components purified and collected were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The method yielded 45.8 mg of bergapten at 96.5% purity and 118.3 mg of imperatorin at 98.2% purity from 500 mg of the crude extract in a single run. The recoveries of bergapten and imperatorin were 92.1 and 93.7%, respectively.     

Application of silver ion in the separation of macrolide antibiotic components by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Three macrolide antibiotic components – ascomycin, tacrolimus and dihydrotacrolimus – were separated and purified by silver ion high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). The solvent system consisted of n-hexane–tert-butyl methyl ether–methanol–water (1:3:6:5, v/v) and silver nitrate (0.10 mol/l). The silver ion acted as a π-complexing agent with tacrolimus because of its extra side double bond compared with ascomycin and dihydrotacrolimus. This complexation modified the partition coefficient values and the separation factors of the three components. As a result, ascomycin, tacrolimus and dihydrotacrolimus were purified from 150 mg extracted crude sample with purities of 97.6%, 98.7% and 96.5%, respectively, and yields over 80% (including their tautomers). These results cannot be achieved with the same solvent system but without the addition of silver ion.     

High performance liquid chromatography equipped with a cathodic detector and column-switching device as a high-throughput method for a phosphatase assay with p-nitrophenyl phosphate

A preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method for isolation and purification of coumarin compounds from the Chinese medicinal plant Peucedanum decursivum (Miq.) Maxim (Zihuaqianhu in Chinese) was successfully established by using light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:7:4, v/v) as the two-phase solvent system. The upper phase of light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:7:4, v/v) was used as the stationary phase of HSCCC. Nodakenetin (2.8 mg), 6.1 mg of Pd-C-IV, 7.3 mg of Pd-D-V, 4.7 mg of ostruthin, 7.8 mg of decursidin and 11.2 mg of decursitin C with the purity of 88.3%, 98.0%, 94.2%, 97.1%, 97.8% and 98.4%, respectively, were separated successfully in one-step separation from 150 mg of crude sample from P. decursivum (Miq.) Maxim. After purified by HSCCC again with light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:4:5, v/v) as the two-phase solvent system, the purity of (I) can reach 99.4%. The structures of all the compounds were identified by 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

SEPARATION OF THE MINOR FLAVONOLS FROM FLOS GOSSYPII BY HIGH-SPEED COUNTERCURRENT CHROMATOGRAPHY

An effective high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) method was established for further separation and purification of four minor flavonols in addition to five major flavonols which were reported by our previous study from extracts of Flos Gossypii. HSCCC was performed with three two-phase solvent systems composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (7.5:15:6:7, v/v), (2.5:15:2:7, v/v) and (0:1:0:1, v/v). The separation was repeated 3 times, and 3.8 mg of 8-methoxyl-kaempferol-7-O-β-D-rhamnoside (HPLC purity 98.27%), 6.7 mg of astragalin (HPLC purity 94.18%), 3.3 mg of 4'-methoxyl-quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside (HPLC purity 94.30%) and 8.2 mg of hyperoside (HPLC purity 93.48%) were separated from 150 mg of the crude sample. The chemical structures of the flavonols were confirmed by MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. Meanwhile, the results indicated that the target compound with smaller K value (<0.5) can be separated by increasing column length of HSCCC. And four separation rules of flavonols according to the present study and references were summarized, which can be used as a useful guide for separation of flavonols by HSCCC.     

Isolation of three sesquiterpene lactones from the roots of Cichorium glandulosum Boiss. et Huet. by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Because of the skeletal complexity and similarity of the polarity, little research was reported on the isolation of sesquiterpene lactones by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). Herein, three sesquiterpene lactones were successfully purified from the ethyl acetate extract of the roots of the traditional Uyghur medicinal plant Cichorium glandulosum Boiss. et Huet. by HSCCC. The separation was performed in two steps with two solvent systems: n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (1.5:5:2.75:5, v/v/v/v) and ethyl acetate-methanol-water (20:1:20, v/v/v). From 166 mg of the ethyl acetate extract, 19 mg of lactucopicrin was isolated with the first solvent system and 10 mg of 11beta,13-dihydrolactucin and 16 mg of lactucin were obtained with the second solvent system. All purified compounds were over 94% purity as determined by HPLC analysis, and these chemical structures were confirmed by (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR.     

Isolation of bioactive components from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze using high-speed counter-current chromatography and time-controlled collection method

Semipreparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) by time-controlled collection method was successfully applied for isolation and purification of α-terthienyl, 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl, and 5-(3-penten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze for the first time. The two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane and acetonitrile at the volume ratio of 1:1 (v/v) was used for the semipreparative HSCCC. The 5.2 mg α-terthienyl, 2.2 mg 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl, and 4.3 mg 5-(3-penten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl with the purity of 99.9, 90.2, and 92.1% were produced from 265.6 mg crude extract, respectively, and 5-(3-penten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl was first isolated from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze. The structures of the separated compounds were identified by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry and proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H- and (13)C-NMR).     

Preparative isolation and purification of coumarins from Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn by high-speed counter-current chromatography

A preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method for isolation and purification of coumarins from Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn (Baihuaqianhu in Chinese) was successfully established by using light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water as the two-phase solvent system in gradient elution mode. The upper phase of light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:5:5, v/v) was used as the stationary phase of HSCCC. The mobile phase used in HSCCC was the lower phase of light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:5:5, v/v) and light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:6.5:3.5, v/v) that was changed in gradient. Four kinds of coumarins and another unknown compound were obtained and yielded 5.3 mg of qianhucoumarin D, 7.7 mg of Pd-Ib, 35.8 mg of (+)-praeruptorin A, 31.9 mg of (+)-praeruptorin B and 6.4 mg of unknown compound with the purity of 98.6%, 92.8%, 99.5%, 99.4% and 99.8% in one-step separation, respectively. The structures of the coumarins were identified by 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

高速逆流色谱法快速分离制备枸杞中莨菪亭

建立了用高速逆流色谱(HSCCC)从枸杞中快速分离莨菪亭的方法。将枸杞的乙醇提取物经D-101大孔树脂初步纯化后直接进行高速逆流色谱分离,用薄层色谱-荧光法考察了莨菪亭在不同溶剂体系中的分配情况。结果表明,最佳的溶剂体系为氯仿-甲醇-水(10:7:3, v/v/v),取上相为固定相,下相为流动相,在主机转速为850 r/min、流速为1.5 mL/min、检测波长为365 nm的条件下,从200 mg样品中一次性分离制备可得到10.2 mg纯度达到98.3%的莨菪亭。制备所得的莨菪亭与对照品的高效液相色谱(HPLC)保留时间一致,且经核磁共振氢谱、碳谱鉴定结构;纯度经HPLC法测定。研究发现,氯仿-甲醇-水(10:7:3, v/v/v)体系可连续二次进样而样品的峰形未受明显的影响。实验结果表明用薄层色谱-荧光法可快速选定HSCCC溶剂体系,进而可快速、简便地制备高纯度的莨菪亭。     

Large-scale isolation and purification of geniposide from the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis by high-speed counter-current chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was applied to the isolation and purification of geniposide from Gardenia jasminoides Ellis. Analytical HSCCC was used for the preliminary selection of a suitable solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:1:3, v/v/v). According to the above solvent system, preparative HSCCC was successfully performed with the optimal solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:1.5:3, v/v/v) yielding 389 mg of geniposide at over 98% purity from 1g of the partially purified extract with 38.9% recovery in a one-step separation.     

Preparative isolation and purification of three rotenoids and one isoflavone from the seeds of Millettia pachycarpa Benth by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Both analytical and preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) were used to isolate and separate chemical bioactive constituents from the seeds of Millettia pachycarpa Benth, a famous traditional Chinese medicine. Three rotenoids and one isoflavone were successfully purified for the first time by HSCCC with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (HEMWat) (1:0.8:1:0.6, v/v/v/v). The separation parameters were first performed on the analytical HSCCC and optimized conditions were then scaled up to preparative HSCCC. The separation produced 160.2 mg tephrosin, 14.6 mg 4',5'-dimethoxy-6,6-dimethylpyranoisoflavone, 109.4 mg deguelin, 6.7 mg 6a,12a-dehydrodeguelin with respective purities of 95, 93, 95, 95%, in one single run from 400 mg crude extract of the seeds of M. pachycarpa Benth. The purity of the isolated compounds was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and their structures were identified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS); (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance ((13)C NMR) analysis. This paper is an excellent example of the role that CCC is playing in isolating active compounds for pre-clinical trials of new chemical entities, even when scaling up between centrifuges from different manufacturers.     

Enrichment and isolation of barbigerone from Millettia pachycarpa Benth. using high‐speed counter‐current chromatography and preparative HPLC

Enrichment of the anti‐tumor compound barbigerone along with a rotenoid derivative from Millettia pachycarpa Benth. was performed by a two‐step high‐speed counter‐current chromatography (HSCCC) separation process. In the first step, 155.8 mg of target fraction (Fra6) was obtained from 400 mg ethyl acetate extract of M. pachycarpa Benth. with an increase in barbigerone from 5.1 to 13% via HSCCC using a solvent system of n‐hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:4:5:3, v/v) under normal phase head to tail elution. HSCCC was repeated to eliminate the major contaminant in this initial fraction 6. After a separation time of 65 min, 22.1 mg barbigerone of 87.7% purity was obtained from Fra6 with the ternary solvent system of n‐hexane–methanol–water (2:2:1, v/v) under normal phase elution. Finally, preparative HPLC was employed for the further isolation of barbigerone and the rotenoid derivative. The structures were confirmed by ESI‐MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.     

高良姜中二苯基庚烷类化合物的高速逆流色谱分离制备

应用高速逆流色谱法(HSCCC)分离纯化了高良姜中3种二苯基庚烷类化合物。以正己烷-乙酸乙酯-甲醇-水(2:3:1.75:1, v/v/v/v)为两相溶剂系统,下相为固定相,上相为流动相,在主机转速为858 r/min、流速1.5 mL/min的条件下,从122.20 mg高良姜石油醚萃取物中经一步HSCCC分离可制备得到5R-羟基-7-(4-羟基-3-甲氧基苯基)-1-苯基-3-庚酮(7.37 mg)、7-(4-羟基-3-甲氧基苯基)-1-苯基-4E-烯-3-庚酮(9.11 mg)和1,7-二苯基-4E-烯-3-庚酮(15.44 mg),经高效液相色谱分析,纯度均大于93%,各化合物的结构由质谱和核磁共振氢谱、碳谱鉴定确证。该方法简便、快速、高效,可用于高良姜中二苯基庚烷类化合物的快速分离制备。     

Preparation of the monomers of gingerols and 6-shogaol by flash high speed counter-current chromatography

The flash high speed counter-current chromatographic (FHSCCC) separation of gingerols and 6-shogaol was performed on a HSCCC instrument equipped with a 1200-ml column (5 mm tubing i.d.) at a flow rate of 25 ml/min. The performance met the FHSCCC feature that the flow rate of mobile phase (ml) is equal to or greater than the square of the diameter of the column tubing (mm). The separation employed the upper phase of stationary phase of the n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:2:2:3, v/v) as the stationary phase. A stepwise elution was performed by eluting with the lower phase of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:2:2:3, v/v) for first 90 min and the lower phase of the n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:2:6:5, v/v) for the second 90 min. In each separation 5 g of the ethyl acetate extract of rhizomes of ginger was loaded, yielding 1.96 g of 6-gingerol (98.3%), 0.33 g of 8-gingerol (97.8%), 0.64 g of 6-shogaol (98.8%) and 0.57 g of 10-gingerol (98.2%). The separation can be expected to scale up to industrial separation.     

Application of preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for separation and purification of arctiin from Fructus Arctii

Following an initial clean-up step on the AB-8 resin (polystyrene resin, 0.3-1.25 mm: NanKai Chemical Factory, Tianjin, China), high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used to purify an arctiin from an extract of the fruits of the Arctium lappa L. Arctiin is a major lignan compound in the traditional Chinese medicinal herb A. lappa L. The two-phase solvent system used was composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-ethanol-water at an optimized volume ratio of 5:0.5:1:5 (v/v/v/v). The upper phase was used as the mobile phase in the head to tail elution mode. A total amount of 159 mg of arctiin at 98% purity was obtained from 350 mg of the crude extract (containing 49% arctiin) with 91% recovery. The preparative isolation and purification of arctiin by HSCCC was completed in 5 h in a separation. Identification of the target compound was performed by LC-electrospray ionization MS and 13C-NMR. The structure of the product was further confirmed by comparison with authentic sample (National Institute of the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, Beijing, China).