On-line coupling of counter-current chromatography and macroporous resin chromatography for continuous isolation of arctiin from the fruit of Arctium lappa L.

In this work, we have developed a novel hybrid two-dimensional counter-current chromatography and liquid chromatography (2D CCC × LC) system for the continuous purification of arctiin from crude extract of Arctium lappa. The first dimensional CCC column has been designed to fractionalize crude complex extract into pure arctiin effluent using a one-component organic/salt-containing system, and the second dimensional LC column has been packed with macroporous resin for on-line adsorption, desalination and desorption of arctiin which was effluent purified from the first CCC dimension. Thus, the crude arctiin mixture has been purified efficiently and conveniently by on-line CCC × LC in spite of the use of a salt-containing solvent system in CCC separation. As a result, high purity (more than 97%) of arctiin has been isolated by repeated injections both using the ethyl acetate–8% sodium chloride aqueous solution and butanol–1% sodium chloride aqueous solution. By contrast with the traditional CCC processes using multi-component organic/aqueous solvent systems, the present on-line CCC × LC process only used a one-component organic solvent and thus the solvent is easier to recover and regenerate. All of used solvents such as ethyl acetate, n-butanol and NaCl aqueous solution are low toxicity and environment-friendly. Moreover, the lower phase of salt-containing aqueous solution used as mobile phase, only contained minor organic solvent, which will save much organic solvent in continuous separation. In summary, our results indicated that the on-line hybrid 2D CCC × LC system using one-component organic/salt-containing aqueous solution is very promising and powerful tool for high-throughput purification of arctiin from fruits of A. lappa.     

A simple and efficient protocol for large‐scale preparation of three flavonoids from the flower of Daphne genkwa by combination of macroporous resin and counter‐current chromatography

In this paper, macroporous resin column chromatography and counter‐current chromatography (CCC) were applied for large‐scale preparative separation of three flavonoids from the flower of Daphne genkwa, a famous Chinese medicinal herb. Nine kinds of resins were investigated by adsorption and desorption tests and D101 macroporous resin was selected for the first cleaning‐up, in which 40% aqueous ethanol was used to remove the undesired constituents and 90% aqueous ethanol was used to elute the targets. The crude extract after the first step was directly subjected to the preparative CCC purification using the solvent system composed of n‐hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (4:5:4:5, v/v). The compounds apigemin (823 mg), 3‐hydroxyl‐genkwanin (842 mg) and genkwanin (998 mg) with the purities of 98.79, 97.71 and 93.53%, respectively, determined by HPLC were produced from 3‐g crude extract only in one CCC run. Their chemical structures were identified by MS, UV and the standards.     

Separation and purification of isorhamnetin 3-sulphate from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze by counter-current chromatography comparing two kinds of solvent systems

The first preparative separation of a flavonoid sulphate isorhamnetin 3-sulphate from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze by counter-current chromatography (CCC) was presented. Two kinds of solvent systems were used. A conventional organic/aqueous solvent system n-butanol-ethyl acetate-water (4:1:5, v/v) was used, yielding isorhamnetin 3-sulphate 2.0 mg with a purity of 93.4% from 83 mg of pre-enriched crude extract obtained from 553 mg ethanol extract by macroporous resin. A one-component organic/salt-containing system composed of n-butanol-0.25% sodium chloride aqueous solution (1:1, v/v) was also used, and the LC column packed with macroporous resin has been employed for desalination of the target compound purified from CCC. As a result, 2.1 mg of isorhamnetin 3-sulphate with a purity of over 97% has been isolated from 402 mg of crude extract without pre-enrichment. Compared with the conventional organic/aqueous system, the one-component organic/salt-containing aqueous system was more suitable for the separation of isorhamnetin 3-sulphate, and purer target compound was obtained from the crude extract without pre-enrichment using the new solvent system. The chemical structure was confirmed by ESI-MS and (1)H, (13)C NMR. In summary, our results indicated that CCC using one-component organic/salt-containing aqueous solution is very promising and powerful for high-throughput purification of isorhamnetin 3-sulphate from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze.     

Combined application of macroporous resin and high speed counter-current chromatography for preparative separation of three flavonoid triglycosides from the leaves of Actinidia valvata Dunn

In this paper, the combined techniques of macroporous resin column chromatography and high speed counter-current chromatography were applied for preparative separation of flavonoid triglycosides from the leaves of Actinidia valvata Dunn, a famous Chinese medicinal herb. Twelve kinds of macroporous resins were investigated by adsorption and desorption tests. HPD-300 resin showed the maximum effectiveness and thus was selected for the first cleaning-up, in which 20% ethanol was used to remove the undesired constituents and 60% ethanol to elute the targets. The crude extract was then purified by high speed counter-current chromatography with the solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:1:3 and 4:1:5, v/v). Three flavonoid triglycosides, namely, kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-galactopyranoside, kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-(4-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-(1→6)-β-D-galactopyranoside and kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-(2,4-di-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-(1→6)-β-D-galactopyranoside, were obtained. The purities of the separated compounds were all over 95% as determined by HPLC area normalization method. Their chemical structures were confirmed by UV, MS, NMR, and the standards.     

Separation of isorhamnetin 3‐sulphate and astragalin from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze using macroporous resin and followed by high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

D4020 resin offered the best dynamic adsorption and desorption capacity for total flavonoids based on the research results from ten kinds of macroporous resin. A column packed with D4020 resin was used to optimize the separation of total flavonoids from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze extracts. The content of flavonoids in the product was increased from 4.3 to 30.1% with a recovery yield of 90%. After the treatment with gradient elution on D4020 resin, the contents of isorhamnetin 3‐sulfate and astragalin were increased from 0.49 to 8.70% with a recovery yield of 74.1% and 1.16 to 30.8%, with a recovery yield of 92.2%, respectively. Further purification was carried out by one‐run high‐speed countercurrent chromatography yielding 4.5 mg of isorhamnetin 3‐sulfate at a high purity of 96.48% and yielding 24.4 mg of astragalin at a high purity of over 98.46%.     

高速逆流色谱法分离紫锥菊花色苷及其抗氧化性研究

建立了高速逆流色谱(HSCCC)分离制备紫锥菊花色苷类化合物的方法,并对所获得的2个花色苷单体进行了体外抗氧化性实验。以新鲜紫锥菊花瓣为原料,含0.1%HCl的60%乙醇为溶剂避光冷浸提取,经乙酸乙酯萃取和D101大孔吸附树脂(100 mL,2 cm×30 cm)纯化后,得2.1 g紫锥菊花色苷提取物干粉样品。以水-正丁醇-甲基叔丁基甲醚-乙腈-三氟乙酸(6∶3∶2∶1∶0.001)为HSCCC分离溶剂系统,上相为固定相,下相为流动相,流速2.0 mL/min,进样量160 mg,通过一次分离得到2种花色苷单体化合物,经HPLC检测其纯度分别达95.1%(9.8 mg)、98.2%(14.3 mg),MS及NMR技术鉴定其结构分别为矢车菊素-3-O-β-D葡萄糖苷(化合物1)和矢车菊素-3-O-(6″-O-丙二酰-β-D葡萄糖苷)(化合物2)。以Vc为对照组,对所获得的2种花色苷单体化合物进行了1,1-二苯基-2苦肼基(DPPH.)体外抗氧化性能评价,结果显示2种花色苷对DPPH.的半清除率(EC50)均小于10 mg/L,小于对照样Vc,表明2种花色苷均具有较强的自由基清除作用,且化合物1的清除能力强于化合物2。     

Characterization of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) using comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography

Various hydroxyl-propylmethylcellulose (HPMC) polymers were characterized according to size and compositional distributions (percentage of methoxyl and hydroxyl-propoxyl substitution) by means of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC×LC) using reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography in the first dimension and aqueous size-exclusion chromatography (aq-SEC) in the second dimension. RP separation was carried out in gradient-elution mode applying 0.05% TFA in water and 1-propanol, while 0.05% TFA in water was used as mobile phase in aqueous SEC. A two-position ten-port switching valve equipped with two storage loops was used to realize LC×LC. Detection of HPMC was accomplished by charged-aerosol detection (CAD). Data processing to visualize chromatograms was carried out using Matlab software. The significant influence of the LC×LC temperature on (the retention of) HPMC was studied using a column oven which allowed accurate temperature control. Due to the phenomenon of thermal gelation, which is a result of methyl and hydroxypropyl substitution of anhydroglucose units from the cellulose backbone, we were able to obtain additional, specific information on compositional characteristics of various HPMC samples. As the retention behaviour of gelated and non-gelated polymer proved to be different, the fraction of the polymer that is gelated in the chromatographic column could be monitored at different temperatures. Moreover, the temperature at which half of the polymer is gelated could be correlated with the cloud-point temperature. As a result, differences in inherent cloud points of modified cellulose can be used as a further distinguishing property in "temperature-responsive" LC×LC.     

Effects of first dimension eluent composition in two-dimensional liquid chromatography

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC×LC) has received a great deal of attention during the past few years because of its extraordinary resolving power. The biggest advantage of this technique is that very high peak capacities can be generated in a relatively short time. Numerous approaches to maximize the peak capacity in LC×LC have been employed. In this work we investigate the impact of the first dimension mobile phase on selectivity. LC×LC has several potential advantages over one-dimensional LC (1DLC) in that unconventional solvents, at least in reversed-phase LC, can be used. For example, solvents which strongly adsorb in the UV in the first dimension are not problematic in LC×LC. This so because the UV detector is placed after the second dimensional column, as pulses of the first dimension eluent arrive at the second dimensional column, they elute well before the solutes of interest and therefore do not interfere at all with detection of solute peaks. So far, the most widely used solvents in reversed-phase 1DLC are methanol and acetonitrile. However, the "UV advantage" of 2DLC allows us to employ UV active solvents, such as acetone. We compare their differential selectivities to that of acetonitrile for the separation of 23 indole acetic acids of interest in plant biology. We also apply them to the separation of a maize seed extract, a very complex sample. In both sample sets, mobile phase composition can be an important parameter to increase the orthogonality of the two dimensions and thus, to increase the effective peak capacity of LC×LC.     

Orthogonal strategy development using reversed macroporous resin coupled with hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for the separation of ginsenosides from ginseng root extract

Ginsenosides have been widely conceded as having various biological activities and are considered to be the active ingredient of ginseng. Nowadays, preparative high‐performance liquid chromatography is considered to be a highly efficient method for ginseng saponins purification and preparation. However, in the process of practical application, due to the complex and varied composition of natural products and relatively simple pretreatment process, it is likely to block the chromatographic column and affect the separation efficiency and its service life. In this work, an orthogonal strategy was developed; in the first‐dimension separation, reverse‐phase macroporous resin was applied to remove impurities in ginseng crude extracts and classified ginseng extracts into protopanaxatriol and protopanaxadiol fractions. In the second‐dimension separation, the obtained fractions were further separated by a preparative hydrophilic column, and finally yielded 11 pure compounds. Eight of them identified as ginsenoside Rh₁, Rg₂, Rd, Rc, Rb₂, Rb₁, Rg₁, and Re by standards comparison and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The purity of these ginsenosides was assessed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection.     

Screening of antioxidant phenolic compounds in Chinese Rhubarb combining fast counter‐current chromatography fractionation and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis

In this paper, an effective method combing fast elution‐extrusion counter‐current chromatography (CCC) and LC/MS for rapid screening of antioxidative phenolic compounds in Chinese Rhubarb is presented. An integrated three‐coil CCC column (40 mL each coil) was used to accomplish the optimization of biphasic liquid system. In a single run (approximately 40 min), the solvent system composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:1:1:1, v/v) was selected as optimum CCC liquid system for fast fractionation of the crude ethanol extract. With a 140 mL‐capacity CCC instrument, 100 mg Chinese Rhubarb extract was separated under the optimized conditions, producing six fractions in only 100 min. The quantities of each fraction were ～15 mg. In addition, each fraction was subjected to antioxidant activity assay and characterized by LC/MS analysis. Fifty compounds, including phenolic acids, phenolic glucosides and hydroxyanthraquinones, were detected by LC/MS/MS analysis. As a result, gallic acid together with Fr I showed excellent antioxidant activity, which was well consistent with previous studies and exhibited great potential for natural drug discovery program of the present method.     

Isolation and characterization of flavonols from blackcurrant by high-performance counter-current chromatography and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Blackcurrant is considered as a natural high-value food raw material and possesses a variety of therapeutic properties. The health benefits of blackcurrant have generally been credited to its high anthocyanin content; however, the therapeutic properties of other minor flavonoids constituents have not yet been investigated due the difficulties related to their isolation. Multiple steps of high-performance counter-current chromatography in combination with ESI tandem mass spectrometry (MS(n)) were successfully used for the preparative isolation of flavonols from blackcurrant extract, to study their electrospray ionization mass spectrometry fragmentation behavior. Seven flavonols, namely myricetin-3-O-rutinoside (145.5 mg), myricetin-3-O-hexoside (79.7 mg), myricetin-3-O-(6″-malonyl)-glucoside (17.4 mg), kaempferol-3-O-glucoside (20.5 mg), quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (55.1 mg), quercetin-3-O-hexoside (25.8 mg), and myricetin (129.1 mg) have been successfully isolated and their multistage MS(n) data were used for detailed structure characterization. The results of these experiments demonstrated that high-performance counter-current chromatography along with ESI-MS(n) is a sensitive, selective, and effective technology for isolation and characterization of minor constituents from a complex mixture.     

Multi-channel counter-current chromatography for high-throughput fractionation of natural products for drug discovery

A multi-channel counter-current chromatography (CCC) method has been designed and fabricated for the high-throughput fractionation of natural products without complications sometimes encountered with other conventional chromatographic systems, such as irreversible adsorptive constituent losses and deactivation, tailing of solute peaks and contamination. It has multiple independent CCC channels and each channel connects independent separation column(s) by parallel flow tubes, and thus the multi-channel CCC apparatus can achieve simultaneously two or more independent chromatographic processes. Furthermore, a high-throughput CCC fractionation method for natural products has been developed by a combination of a new three-channel CCC apparatus and conventional parallel chromatographic devices including pumps, sample injectors, effluent detectors and collectors, and its performance has been displayed on the fractionation of ethyl acetate extracts of three natural materials Solidago canadensis, Suillus placidus, and Trichosanthes kirilowii, which are found to be potent cytotoxic to tumor cell lines in the course of screening the antitumor candidates. By combination of biological screening programs and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) purification, 22.8 mg 6 beta-angeloyloxykolavenic acid and 29.4 mg 6 beta-tigloyloxykolavenic acid for S. canadensis, 25.3mg suillin for S. placidus, and 6.8 mg 23,24-dihydrocucurbitacin B for T. Kirilowii as their major cytotoxic principles were isolated from each 1000 mg crude ethyl acetate extract. Their chemical structures were characterized by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. The overall results indicate the multi-channel CCC is very useful for high-throughput fractionation of natural products for drug discovery in spite of the solvent balancing requirement and the lower resolution of the shorter CCC columns.     

A practicable strategy for enrichment and separation of four minor flavonoids including two isomers from barley seedlings by macroporous resin column chromatography,medium‐pressure LC,and high‐speed countercurrent chromatography

Separation of minor compounds especially with similar polarities and structures from complex samples is a challenging work. In the present study, an efficient method was successfully established by macroporous resin column chromatography, medium‐pressure liquid chromatography, and high‐speed countercurrent chromatography for separation of four minor flavonoids from barley seedlings. Macroporous resin column chromatography and medium‐pressure liquid chromatography were used for enrichment of these four flavonoids. High‐pressure liquid chromatography analysis showed the total content of these four flavonoids increased from 2.2% in the crude extract to 95.3% in the medium‐pressure liquid chromatography fraction. It was indicated that the combination of macroporous resin column chromatography and medium‐pressure liquid chromatography could be a practicable strategy for enrichment of minor compounds from complex sample. Then, high‐speed countercurrent chromatography was employed for separation of these four flavonoids using ethyl acetate/n‐butanol/water (0.1% glacial acetic acid) (4:1:5, v/v/v) as solvent system. As a result, four flavonoids including two isomers with purities higher than 98% were obtained. Interestingly, two flavonoids existing in one high‐pressure liquid chromatography peak were also successfully separated. All these indicated high‐speed countercurrent chromatography had great potential for separation of compounds with similar structures and polarities. This study provides a reference for efficient enrichment and separation of minor compounds from complex sample.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography

Having nearly exhausted the possibilities for generating peak capacity through improvements in column technology, chromatographers are increasingly looking to alternative ways of maximising chromatographic separation. In recent years there has been increasing activity in the field of comprehensive multidimensional separations to meet analysis demands. Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC×LC) approaches offer high peak capacity which leads to significantly improved analytical performance over single-column liquid chromatography. There are several closely related avenues available for achieving an LC×LC separation and this review pays special attention to the different valve-based interfaces that have been used to comprehensively couple the first and second dimension columns in LC×LC systems. A brief discussion of column choices for selected applications and the conditions employed is also presented.     

大孔树脂-高速逆流色谱法分离纯化地黄中毛蕊花糖苷

该文建立了大孔树脂-高速逆流色谱分离中药材地黄中有效成分毛蕊花糖苷的方法。考察了4种大孔树脂对地黄粗提物中毛蕊花糖苷的静态吸附与解吸情况,其中D101大孔树脂对目标成分的吸附率与解吸率最理想,实验结果表明体积分数为10%的乙醇洗脱得到的毛蕊花糖苷含量最高,目标成分含量从4.9%提高到32.6%。最后,部分纯化的样品（165 mg）采用高速逆流色谱进一步纯化,两相溶剂系统由乙酸乙酯-正丁醇-水（1：4：5,v/v/v）组成,分离得到45 mg纯度为96%的毛蕊花糖苷。     

Preparative isolation and purification of amides from the fruits of Piper longum L. by upright counter-current chromatography and reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A versatile counter-current chromatography (CCC) with upright type-J multilayer coil planet centrifuge, named upright CCC, was applied to the isolation and purification of amides from Piper longum L., which is widely used as an anodyne and a treatment for stomach disease in China. After the saponification by KOH of the ethanol extracts solution of 15 kg of crude drug "Piper Longi Fructus", the fruits of P. longum L., the solution was extracted with light petroleum and 500 g of red crude oil was obtained. Using 2.5 g of red crude oil as sample, the preparative upright CCC with a two-phase system composed of light petroleum (bp 60-90 degrees C)-ethyl acetate-tetrachloromethane-methanol-water (1:1:8:6:1, v/v) was successfully performed, which yielded nine fractions. Then these fractions were further purified by use of reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) with a glass column of 500 x 10 mm i.d. packed with reversed-phase silica gel. As a result, nine target amides with over 95% purity, i.e., 50 mg of (2E,4E)-N-isobutyl-eicosa-2,4-dienamide, 150 mg of (2E,4E,14Z)-N-isobutyl-eicosa-2,4,14-trienamide, 110 mg of (2E,4E,12Z)-N-isobutyl-ocatadeca-2,4,12-trienamide, 50 mg of guineensine, 60 mg of pipernonaline, 75 mg of pellitorine, 63 mg of piperine, 45 mg of piperanine, and 40 mg of piperlonguminine were isolated, respectively. Structures of all compounds were identified by electrospray ionization MS, electron impact ionization MS, one- and two-dimensional NMR spectra.     

Chromatofocusing nonporous reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of proteins from human breast cancer whole cell lysates: a novel two-dimensional liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method

A novel two-dimensional two-column liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) technique is described in this work, where chromatofocusing (CF) has been coupled to nonporous reversed-phase (NPS-RP) HPLC to separate proteins from human breast epithelial whole cell lysates. The liquid fractions from NPS-RP-HPLC are readily amenable to direct on-line analysis using electrospray ionization orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOFMS). A key advantage of this technique is that proteins can be 'peeled off' in the liquid phase from the CF column according to their isoelectric points (pI) in the first chromatographic separation dimension. The NPS-RP-HPLC column further separates these pI-focused fractions based upon protein hydrophobicity as the second chromatographic dimension. The third dimension involves on-line molecular weight determination using ESI-TOFMS. As a result, this method has the potential to be fully automated. In addition, a 2-D protein map of pI versus molecular weight is generated, which is analogous to a 2-D gel image. Thus, this technique may provide a means to study differential expression of proteins from whole cell lysates.     

Novel, highly robust method of carbohydrate pre-purification by two-dimensional liquid chromatography prior to liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

We describe a novel two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) method for fast and robust isolation and concentration of low abundant carbohydrates (sorbitol, glycerol) from biological matrices (plasma and urine). Off-line pre-purified fractions, enriched by analyte of interest, were analyzed by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS-MS). Initial 2D-LC automated sample pre-purification improved MS detection, eliminated matrix effects, and achieved high sensitivity (picogram detection limit) with a 6 min runtime and increased column lifetime. Using this method we have analyzed more than 1300 samples from biological matrices without column replacement.     

Isolation and Purification of Highly Polar Antioxidants from Chirita longgangensis by Combination of Macroporous Resin and HSCCC

An efficient and simple method to isolate and purify highly polar antioxidants from the antioxidant active site of Chirita longgangensishas been established. Firstly, the antioxidant active site was enriched with D101 macroporous resin, and then high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used with the two-phase solvent system ethyl acetate–n-butanol–methanol–water (5:0.1:0.5:4.5, v/v) to obtain four antioxidants in one step. They were identified as plantainoside D (28.4 mg), plantainoside B (9.5 mg), calcedarioside B (18.1 mg) and calcedarioside A (16.7 mg) by analysis of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. The purities were all above 97 % as determined by HPLC. The inhibiting effects of the crude extracts, enriched fraction and the obtained compounds on superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide were determined by different chemiluminescence (CL) systems. The result shows that all of them have good antioxidant activity. However, the sequence of antioxidant abilities among compounds I–IV was different when assayed by different CL systems (superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical, and hydrogen peroxide). This is the first report on preparative isolation and purification of antioxidants from C. longgangensis by HSCCC combined with macroporous resin and their inhibition of free radical-induced luminol chemiluminescence.