Separation of abietane-type diterpenoids from Clerodendrum kaichianum Hsu by high-speed counter-current chromatography using stepwise elution

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully used for the separation of abietane-type diterpenoids from the medicinal plant C. kaichianum, which were not separated in our previous study using preparative HPLC. The HSCCC separation employed the lower phases of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (HEMW) 4:5:4:5 and HEMW 4:5:5:4 as the mobile phase for stepwise elution while the upper phase of HEMW 4:5:4:5 was used as the stationary phase. HSCCC separation yielded 90.5 mg of compound 1(kaichianone A), 137.7 mg of compound 2 (kaichianone B), 125.0 mg of compound 3 (teuvincenone E), and 227.6 mg of compound 4 (taxusabietane A) with purities of 95.3%, 97.2%, 97.8%, and 98.6%, respectively, as determined by HPLC. Compounds 1–2 are two new abietane-type diterpenoids while Compounds 3–4 are known abietane-type diterpenoids, analyzed by ESIMS and NMR data. The results demonstrated that HSCCC can be an excellent alternative for other separation methods. The two new compounds showed significant cytotoxicity against ileocecal carcinoma HCT-8 and breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells.     

High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography Combined with Column Chromatography for Isolation of Methyllycaconitine from Delphinium pseudocyanthum

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) combined with conventional column chromatography (CC) has been used for isolation and purification of methyllycaconitine from Delphinium pseudocyanthum. n-Hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water, 1:1:1:2 (v/v), was used as the solvent system for HSCCC. Separation of methyllycaconitine from an HSCCC fraction was successfully achieved by CC on silica gel using chloroform-methanol, 7:1 (v/v), as mobile phase. A total of 113.45 mg methyllycaconitine of purity >95% was obtained from 1.044 g extract of D. pseudocyanthum. Its structure was identified by MS and NMR.     

High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography Combined with Column Chromatography for Isolation of Methyllycaconitine from Delphinium pseudocyanthum

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) combined with conventional column chromatography (CC) has been used for isolation and purification of methyllycaconitine from Delphinium pseudocyanthum. n-Hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water, 1:1:1:2 (v/v), was used as the solvent system for HSCCC. Separation of methyllycaconitine from an HSCCC fraction was successfully achieved by CC on silica gel using chloroform-methanol, 7:1 (v/v), as mobile phase. A total of 113.45 mg methyllycaconitine of purity >95% was obtained from 1.044 g extract of D. pseudocyanthum. Its structure was identified by MS and NMR.

     

Preparative Isolation and Purification of Two Phenylpropanoids from Daphne giraldii Nitsche by HSCCC

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully applied to purify phenylpropanoids from the stem and root bark of Daphne giraldii Nitsche, a traditional Chinese medicine. Their structures were identified on the basis of ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR technology. The two-phase solvent system composed of n -hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (2: 3: 0.5: 4, v/v/v/v) was selected for HSCCC. A total of 8.0 mg woonenoside XI (1) and 18.0 mg daphnetin (2) were obtained in one-step separation from 200 mg of the crude extract with purity of 96.0 and 99.1%, respectively, as determined by LC. And the major compound (2) showed antithrombotic activity in vitro.     

Validation and Application by LC for Simultaneous Determination of Imperatorin and Isoimperatorin in Traditional Chinese Medicinal Preparations Containing Radix Angelicae dahuricae

A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was established for the simultaneous determination of imperatorin and isoimperatorin in eleven kinds of traditional Chinese medicinal preparations (TCMPs) containing Radix Angelicae dahuricae (Chinese herbal name: Baizhi). Imperatorin and isoimperatorin were successfully separated on an Ultimate XB-C₁₈ column (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm). The mobile phase was a mixture of acetonitrile and 50 mmol L^?1 sodium acetate (pH 3.5) buffer (45:55, v/v), employing isocratic elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. Detection was accomplished at 302 nm. Regression equations revealed good linear relationship between the peak areas of the constituents and their concentrations (correlation coefficients: 0.9995 for imperatorin, 0.9991 for isoimperatorin). The recoveries were between 97.38% and 103.78%. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of imperatorin and isoimperatorin in eleven kinds of TCMPs containing Baizhi.     

Rapid and Simultaneous Study on Drug–Protein Binding of Four Furocoumarins by Hollow Fiber Liquid Phase Microextraction

Hollow fiber liquid–liquid phase microextraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography was employed to research the binding of four furocoumarin compounds (psoralen, oxypeucedanin, imperatorin and isoimperatorin) to bovine serum albumin. The results reveal that the percent of drug–protein binding did not rely on the furocoumarins and protein concentrations, and four furocoumarins scarcely competed for protein binding sites. The protein-binding percents of psoralen, oxypeucedanin, imperatorin and isoimperatorin were 55.1 ± 4.5, 14.4 ± 2.4, 44.1 ± 6.7, and 41.3 ± 3.8%, respectively, the numbers of binding sites were 1.2, 1.6, 0.6 and 0.3, and the binding constants were 1,801, 212, 937 and 4,025 L mol^?1, respectively. The proposed new approach is simple, rapid, and effective for the study of the interaction between protein and furocoumarin compounds which is either individual or coexistent with the similar ones.     

An Economical Method for Isolation of Dioscin from Dioscorea nipponica Makino by HSCCC Coupled with ELSD, and a Computer-Aided UNIFAC Mathematical Model

An economical method for isolation of dioscin from Dioscorea nipponica Makino by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully developed by using a UNIFAC mathematical model coupled with computer-aided counter-current chromatography solvent-selection software (CCC-SSS) for separate preparation of the components of the solvent system (i.e., the stationary and mobile phases). The solvent system n-hexane–ethyl acetate–ethanol–water 2:5:2:5 (v/v) was selected to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. A comparative study was also carried out on different methods for preparation of the solvent system, namely conventional preparation of the mobile and stationary phases together in the same vessel and the method developed for separate preparation of the phases. The results indicated that purity and recovery of dioscin were no different when solvent systems prepared by the different methods were used for HSCCC separation. Much less n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol was used when the mobile and stationary phases were prepared separately, however. This was not only environmentally sensible, but also enabled conservation of resources. Use of the UNIFAC mathematical model combined with the CCC-SSS technique for separate preparation of the components of the solvent system in HSCCC is reported and explained. It is a simple and economical means of isolating pure dioscin from Dioscorea nipponica Makino.     

An Efficient Method for Extraction, Separation and Purification of Naphthoquinone Pigments from Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. et Zucc. by SFE and HSCCC

Supercritical fluid extraction was used to extract naphthoquinone pigments from Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. et Zucc. The crude extracts were separated and purified by high-speed counter-current chromatography with light petroleum–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:5:8:2, v/v) as the two-phase solvent system. Three kinds of naphthoquinone pigments including 17.6 mg of β-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin (I), 17.6 mg of acetylshikonin (II), and 19.7 mg of isobutyrylshikonin (III) were obtained from 150 mg crude sample. The purity of these compounds was 96.7, 99.3 and 95.5%, respectively, as determined by liquid chromatograph. Their structures were identified by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.     

Efficient Protocol for Large-Scale Purification of Naringin with High Recovery from Fructus aurantii by Macroporous Resin Column Chromatography and HSCCC

Several kinds of resins were investigated in the first step and D101 macroporous resin was selected for cleaning-up naringin (NAR), a major flavonoid glycoside from Fructus aurantii. In the subsequent column chromatography, 10% aqueous ethanol was first used to elute the column to remove the undesired constituents and 70% aqueous ethanol was used to elute the target. The content of NAR was 57.1% with 95.7% recovery in this process. In the second step, the obtained crude sample was directly isolated by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) with a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–n-butanol–water at a volume ratio of 2: 0.8: 3.2 (v/v/v), and 331 mg NAR with 98.3% purity was obtained from 600 mg crude extract in only one run. The recovery of the compound in this step was 95.0%. Thus, the total recovery of NAR was 90.9% after the two step purification. The established protocol for large-scale isolation and separation of NAR with high purity and recovery from F. aurantii was simple, efficient, and suitable for pharmace- utical and commercial use.     

Preparative Isolation and Purification of Altertoxin I from an Alternaria sp. by HSCCC

Altertoxin I (ATX I) is one of the common mycotoxins produced by genus Alternaria which is a common food pathogen of fruits and grains. To prepare enough quantity of pure ATX I for further research of mutagenicity and toxicology tests, a novel method using preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed. The ethyl acetate crude extracts of the acetone washes obtained after fermentation of Alternaria sp. was separated using a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (2:5:5:6, v/v). Collected fractions were analyzed by LC and identified by EI–MS and NMR analysis. The technique can isolate mg levels of the target compound per run.     

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.     

Simultaneous Isolation and Purification of Mollugin and Two Anthraquinones from Rubia cordifolia by HSCCC

A preparative high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) method for isolation and purification of three bioactive components, tectoquinone; 1-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone and mollugin from the Chinese medicinal plant Rubia cordifolia was successfully established. With a two-phase solvent system composed of light petroleum/ethanol/diethyl ether/water (5:4:3:1, v/v), 10 mg tectoquinone, 19 mg 1-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone and 16 mg mollugin were obtained from 100 mg of the crude petroleum extract in a one-step separation at a purity of 98.8, 95.8 and 98.3%, respectively. The structures of mollugin and anthraquinones were identified by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.     

Separation and Purification of Three Flavonoids from Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench by HSCCC

Following an initial clean-up step on a Sephadex LH-20 column, high-speed countercurrent chromatography was successfully applied to the isolation and purification of three flavonoids from a crude sample of Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench. HSCCC was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–water (1:1, v/v). Naringenin-7-O-β-d-glycoside (2.3 mg), isoquercitrin (3.5 mg), and astragalin (6.7 mg), with purities of 96.05%, 93.63%, 95.23%, respectively, were separated from 160 mg of crude sample in a one-step separation. The structure identification was by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.     

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.     

Separation and Purification of Baishouwubenzophenone, 4-Hydroxyacetophenone and 2,4-Dihydroxyacetophenone from Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight by HSCCC

A preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography method for isolation and purification of three acetophenones, baishouwubenzophenone, 4-hydroxyacetophenone and 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone from the Chinese medicinal plant Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight was successfully established. With a two-phase solvent system composed of light petroleum (b.p. 60–90 °C)–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (4:9:6:6, v/v), about 20.2 mg compound 1, 35.0 mg compound 2 and 8.3 mg compound 3, each at over 95% purity as determined by LC, were obtained in one-step elution from 400 mg of the ethanol extract. The structures of these compounds were identified by UV, IR, ESI-MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Among them, compounds 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone and 4-hydroxyacetophenone were obtained from C. auriculatum for the first time.     

Preparative Isolation and Purification of Flavonoids and Protocatechuic Acid from Sea Buckthorn Juice Concentrate (Hippophaë rhamnoides L. ssp. rhamnoides) by High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC)—a support free all liquid–liquid chromatography technique—has been successfully used for the preparative isolation of isorhamnetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-β-rutinoside, quercetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside, syringetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside and protocatechuic acid from sea buckthorn juice concentrate (Hippophaë rhamnoides L. ssp. rhamnoides, Elaeagnaceae). The preparative HSCCC instrument was a multilayer coil planet centrifuge equipped with three preparative coils. Separation was performed with a two phase solvent system (n-hexane–n-butanol–water, 1:1:2 v/v/v) in ‘head-to-tail’ mode. Each injection of 4.1 g crude ethyl acetate extract yielded isorhamnetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside (95 mg), isorhamnetin 3-O-β-rutinoside (10 mg), quercetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside (5 mg), and protocatechuic acid (34 mg) with purities >98%. The flavonoid syringetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside (2 mg) was a novel compound for H. rhamnoides. Chemical structures of all compounds were determined by HPLC–ESI–MS–MS, 1D-NMR (¹H, ¹³C, DEPT 135) spectroscopy and for elucidation of glycosidic linkages 2D-NMR (HMBC) spectroscopy was used.     

Preparative Isolation and Purification of Altertoxin I from an Alternaria sp. by HSCCC

Altertoxin I (ATX I) is one of the common mycotoxins produced by genus Alternaria which is a common food pathogen of fruits and grains. To prepare enough quantity of pure ATX I for further research of mutagenicity and toxicology tests, a novel method using preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed. The ethyl acetate crude extracts of the acetone washes obtained after fermentation of Alternaria sp. was separated using a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (2:5:5:6, v/v). Collected fractions were analyzed by LC and identified by EI–MS and NMR analysis. The technique can isolate mg levels of the target compound per run.

     

Separation and Identification of Ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one from Ganoderma atrum by High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography and Spectroscopic Methods

High speed counter-current chromatography in semi-preparative scale was used to separate and purify ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one from Ganoderma atrum, a famous traditional Chinese medicine. A two-phase solvent system composed of a mixture of n-hexane–ethanol–water (6: 5: 1, v/v/v) was used and the separation conditions were optimized. In a typical run in less than 400 min, 100 mg of samples can be separated to yield 14 mg of ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one with 99.1% purity. The structure of this compound was elucidated by UV, EI-MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR.     

Preparative isolation of osthol and xanthotoxol from Common Cnidium Fruit (Chinese traditional herb) using stepwise elution by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully used for isolation and purification of osthol and xanthotoxol from Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson (Common Cnidium Fruit) using stepwise elution with a pair of two-phase solvent systems composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water at (1:1:1:1, v/v), and (5:5:6:4, v/v), which had been selected by analytical high-speed counter-current chromatography. Using a preparative unit of the HSCCC centrifuge, about a 308 mg amount of the crude extract was separated, yielding 88.3 mg of osthol and 19.4 mg of xanthotoxol at a high purity of over 98%.     

Flow rate gradient high-speed counter-current chromatography separation of five diterpenoids from Triperygium wilfordii and scale-up

In this paper, high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) instruments with different gravitational forces were applied for the separation of bioactive compounds from Triperygium wilfordii Hook.f. The critical parameters including sample concentration, sample volume and flow rate were first optimized on an analytical Mini-DE HSCCC system, and then scaled up to a preparative TBE 300A HSCCC system. Although this scale-up process was performed using different CCC instruments with different centrifuges and gravitational forces, the same resolutions were obtained and the elution time could be predictable. Five diterpenoid compounds and one unknown compound were separated from Triperygium wilfordii Hook.f. by HSCCC with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (HEMW) (3:2:3:2, v/v/v/v). This one-step flow gradient separation produced triptonide (25 mg), isoneotriptophenolide (77 mg), hypolide (83 mg), unknown compound (1 mg), triptophenolide (42 mg), triptonoterpene methyl ether VI (37 mg) from 320 mg crude extract with purities of 98.2%, 96.6%, 98.1%, 95.3%, 95.1%, and 96.5%, respectively. Their purities and structures were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and NMR. This paper demonstrates that analytical CCC plays an important role in optimizing parameters and scale-up process when analytical CCC and preparative CCC are supplied by different manufacturers with different gravitational forces, and the scale-up process from analytical CCC to preparative CCC is still predictable.