Large-scale separation of hydroxyanthraquinones from Rheum palmatum L. by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to purify four hydroxyanthraquinones, rhein, emodin, aloe-emodin and chrysophanol, from three crude extracts of Rheum palmatum L.. After the two-phase solvent system methyl tert-butyl ether-tetrahydrofuran-water at an optimized volume ratio of 2:2:3 (v/v) was equilibrated, trifluoroacetic acid (10 mM) was added to the organic phase as a retainer and ammonia (10 mM), sodium carbonate (15 mM) and sodium hydroxide (15 mM) were added to the aqueous phase as the eluter, respectively, for three individual runs. Three separation runs of 1.25, 1.53 and 1.41 g of the three crude samples yielded four hydroxyanthraquinones: 0.70 g rhein, 0.81 g emodin, 0.41 g aloe-emodin and 0.94 g chrysophanol at a high purity of over 99.0, 98.5, 98.2 and 97.8% (determined by HPLC), respectively. The structures were identified by electrospray ionization MS-MS and (1)H NMR.     

Preparative separation of quaternary ammonium alkaloids from Corydalis yanhusuo W. T. Wang by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

The optimal extraction condition for extracting quaternary ammonium alkaloid dehydrocorydaline from Corydalis yanhusuo W. T. Wang was investigated using orthogonal experimental design. pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography (CCC) with normal phase elution was successfully applied to preparative separation of alkaloids from the crude extract of Corydalis yanhusuo. The separation was performed with a biphasic solvent system composed of chloroform (CHCl₃)–methanol (MeOH)–water (2:1:1, v/v), in which the lower organic phase containing 10 mM of triethylamine was used as the mobile phase, while the upper aqueous phase containing 10 mM of hydrochloric acid was used as the stationary phase. The separation mechanism of quaternary ammonium alkaloids using pH‐zone‐refining CCC was discussed in comparison with standard high‐speed CCC. In the present study, the separation of 1.200 g of crude sample yielded 129 mg of dehydrocorydaline and 12 mg of palmatine at a high purity of 94 and 92%, respectively. Recovery for dehydrocorydaline and palmatine was 85 and 86%, respectively.     

Separation of chlorogenic acid and concentration of trace caffeic acid from natural products by pH‐zone‐refining countercurrent chromatography

Chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were selected as test samples for separation by the pH‐zone‐refining countercurrent chromatography (CCC). The separation of these test samples was performed with a two‐phase solvent system composed of methyl‐tert‐butyl‐ether/acetonitrile/water at a volume ratio of 4:1:5 v/v/v where trifluoroacetic acid (TFA; 8 mM) was added to the organic stationary phase as a retainer and NH₄OH (10 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. Chlorogenic acid was successfully separated from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze (F. bidentis) and Lonicerae Flos by pH‐zone‐refining CCC, a slightly polar two‐phase solvent system composed of methyl‐tert‐butyl‐ether/acetonitrile/n‐butanol/water at a volume ratio of 4:1:1:5 v/v/v/v was selected where TFA (3 mM) was added to the organic stationary phase as a retainer and NH₄OH (3 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. A 16.2 mg amount of chlorogenic acid with the purity of 92% from 1.4 g of F. bidentis, and 134 mg of chlorogenic acid at the purity of 99% from 1.3 g of crude extract of Lonicerae Flos have been obtained. These results suggest that pH‐zone‐refining CCC is suitable for the isolation of the chlorogenic acid from the crude extracts of F. bidentis and Lonicerae Flos.     

Large-scale separation of alkaloids from Corydalis decumbens by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from a crude extract of Corydalis decumbens (Thunb.) Pers. using a multilayer coil planet centrifuge (CPC). The experiment was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE)-acetonitrile-water (2:2:3, v/v) where triethylamine (5-10 mM) was added to the upper organic stationary phase as a retainer and hydrochloric acid (5-10 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. From 3.1 g of the crude extract, 495 mg protopine, 626 mg tetrahydropalmatine and 423 mg bicuculline were obtained each with a purity of over 93% as determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The structures of the isolated compounds were identified by electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and 1H NMR.     

Preparative separation of cichoric acid from Echinacea purpurea by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of cichoric acid from Echinacea Purpurea (L.) Moench. A 3.0 g quantity of sample was separated using the following two-phase solvent system: MtBE-CH3CN-water (4:1:5, v/v), 10 mM trifluoroacetic acid in organic stationary phase and 10 mM ammonia in aqueous mobile phase. The obtained fractions were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Double separations were performed with the same solvent system yielding 563 mg cichoric acid at 95.6% purity.     

Efficient new method for extraction and isolation of three flavonoids from Patrinia villosa Juss. by supercritical fluid extraction and high-speed counter-current chromatography

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of orotinin, orotinin-5-methyl ether and licoagrochalcone B from Patrinia villosa was performed. The optimization of parameters including pressure, temperature, modifier and sample particle size on yield was carried out using an analytical-scale SFE system. The process was then scaled up by 100 times using a preparative SFE system under the optimized conditions of 25 MPa, 45 degrees C, a sample particle size 40-60 mesh and modified CO2 with 20% methanol. The yield of the preparative SFE was 2.82% (crude extract I) and the combined yield of orotinin, orotinin-5-methyl ether and licoagrochalcone B was 0.82 mg/g of dry sample mass. Then the crude extract I was re-dissolved in methanol and methanol soluble fraction (crude extract II, 0.17%) was obtained, which was successfully isolated and separated by a preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:6:6:6, v/v/v/v) by increasing the flow-rate of the mobile phase stepwise from 1.0 to 2.0 ml/min after 3 h. The target compounds isolated and purified by HSCCC were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The separation produced total of 38.2 mg of orotinin at 99.2% purity, 19.8 mg of orotinin-5-methyl ether at 98.5% purity and 21.5 mg of licoagrochalcone B at 97.6% purity from 400 mg of the crude extract in a one-step separation. The recoveries of orotinin, orotinin-5-methyl ether and licoagrochalcone B were 91.1, 91.6 and 90.3%, respectively, and the chemical structure identification was carried out by UV, IR, MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

正交设计试验优化高速逆流色谱分离制备玛咖中芥子油苷的条件

基于高速逆流色谱（HSCCC）技术从玛咖中分离制备出两种芥子油苷,苄基芥子油苷（glucotropaeolin, GTL）和甲氧基苄基芥子油苷（glucolimnanthin, GLI）。使用正交设计试验对分离条件进行优化,采用高分辨质谱对制备的组分进行鉴定,采用高效液相色谱法（HPLC）对组分进行定量分析。确定了两个组分GTL与GLI的HSCCC最佳分离条件：溶剂系统为正丁醇-乙腈-200 g/L硫酸铵溶液（1:0.5:2.4, v/v/v）,上相为固定相,下相为流动相,流动相流速2 mL/min,主机转速900 r/min,从玛咖根粗提物中一次性分离得到157.72 mg/kg纯度为97.9%的苄基芥子油苷和31.93 mg/kg的甲氧基苄基芥子油苷,固定相保留率达57.6%。该方法成本低,简便易行,样品损失量小,可大量循环进样制备。     

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.     

Separation and purification of harmine and harmaline from Peganum harmala using pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from a crude extract of Peganum harmala L. using a multilayer coil planet centrifuge. The experiment was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of methyl tert-butyl ether/THF/water (2:2:3 by volume) where triethylamine (10 mM) was added to the upper organic stationary phase as a retainer and hydrochloric acid (5 mM) to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. From 1.2 g of the crude extract, 554 mg harmine and 325 mg harmaline were obtained each with a purity of over 96% as determined by HPLC. The structures of the isolated compounds were identified by electron ionization MS (EI-MS), (1)H NMR, and (13)C NMR.     

Large‐scale separation of antipsychotic alkaloids from Rauwolfia tetraphylla L. by pH‐zone‐refining fast centrifugal partition chromatography

pH‐zone‐refining centrifugal partition chromatography was successively applied in the large‐scale separation of close R_f antipsychotic indole alkaloids directly from CHCl₃ fraction of Rauwolfia tetraphylla leaves. Two experiments with increasing mass from 500 mg to 3 g of crude alkaloid extracts ( 1 C) of R. tetraphylla were carried out in normal‐displacement mode using a two‐phase solvent system composed of methyl tert‐butyl ether/ACN/water (4:1:5, v/v/v) where HCl (12 mM) was added to the lower aqueous stationary phase as a retainer and triethylamine (5 mM) to the organic mobile phase as an eluter. The two centrifugal partition chromatography separations afforded a total of 162.6 mg of 10‐methoxytetrahydroalstonine ( 1 ) and 296.5 mg of isoreserpiline ( 2 ) in 97% and 95.5% purity, respectively, along with a 400.9 mg mixture of α‐yohimbine and reserpiline ( 3 and 4 ). Further, this mixture was resolved over medium pressure LC using TLC grade silica gel H (average particle size 10 μm), which afforded 160.4 mg of α‐yohimbine ( 3) and 150.2 mg of reserpiline ( 4) in >95% purities. The purity of the isolated antipsychotic alkaloids was analyzed by high‐performance LC and their structures were characterized on the basis of their 1D, 2D NMR and electrospray ionization‐mass spectroscopic data.     

pH-gradient counter-current chromatography isolation of natural antioxidant chlorogenic acid from Lonicera japonica Thumb. using an upright coil planet centrifuge with three multi-layer coils connected in series

A new pH-gradient counter-current chromatography method for the isolation of chlorogenic acid from flowers and buds of Lonicera japonica Thumb. has been successfully established using a novel upright coil planet centrifuge with three multi-layer coils connected in series with 600 mL capacity. The crude extracts were first prepared by direct extraction with hot water and following concentration to remove the solution. Then the two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (2:1:3, v/v) was applied to the separation. Its neutral upper phase was used as stationary phase, whereas both its neutral lower phase and base lower phase with 10mM NH(3) were employed as mobile phase with gradient elution in the head to tail mode. As a result, 330 mg quantity of crude extract was purified in one-step separation for 180 min, yielding 20.5mg chlorogenic acid with over 98% purity. Structure of the compound is further identified by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).     

One-step purification of epigallocatechin gallate from crude green tea extracts by mixed-mode adsorption chromatography on highly cross-linked agarose media

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was purified in one step from a green tea polyphenol (GTP) crude extract by adsorption chromatography on a Superose 12 HR 10/30 column. The mobile phase used was a mixture of acetonitrile and water with an optimum mobile phase compositions regarding purity, recovery and separation time of 78/22 (v/v). Maximum practical sample loading was 100 mg GTP per run (corresponding to 4.2 mg/ml Superose). An EGCG purity of 99% with recoveries in the range 60-65% was achieved in one step directly from the crude GTP extract. Full column regeneration was obtained using solvents in the following order: 0.5 M NaOH, distilled water and 30% acetic acid.     

Accelerated solvent extraction and pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatographic purification of yunaconitine and 8‐deacetylyunaconitine from Aconitum vilmorinianum Kom

This study aimed to seek an efficient method to extract and purify yunaconitine and 8‐deacetylyunaconitine from Aconitum vilmorinianum Kom. by accelerated solvent extraction combined with pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography. The major extraction parameters for accelerated solvent extraction were optimized by an orthogonal test design L₉ (3)⁴. Then a separation and purification method was established using pH‐zone‐refining counter‐current chromatography with a two‐phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (5:5:2:8, v/v) with 10 mM triethylamine in the upper phase and 10 mM HCl in the lower phase. From 2 g crude extract, 224 mg of 8‐deacetylyunaconitine (I) and 841 mg of yunaconitine (II) were obtained with a purity of over 98.0%. The chemical structures were identified by ESI‐MS and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy.     

Separation of patuletin-3-O-glucoside, astragalin, quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin from Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze by elution-pump-out high-performance counter-current chromatography

Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze is an annual alien weed of Flaveria Juss. (Asteraceae) in China. Bioactive compounds, mainly flavonol glycosides and flavones from F. bidentis (L.) Kuntze, have been studied in order to utilize this invasive weed, Analytical high-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) was successfully used to separate patuletin-3-O-glucoside, a mixture of hyperoside (quercetin-3-O-galactoside) and 6-methoxykaempferol-3-O-galactoside, astragalin, quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin using two runs with different solvent system. Ethyl acetate-methanol-water (10:1:10, v/v) was selected by analytical HPCCC as the optimum phase system for the separation of patuletin-3-O-glucoside, a mixture of hyperoside and 6-methoxykaempferol-3-O-galactoside, and astragalin. A Dichloromethane-methanol-water (5:3:2, v/v) was used for the separation of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin. The separation was then scaled up: the crude extract (ca 1.5 g) was separated by preparative HPCCC, yielding 12 mg of patuletin-3-O-glucoside at a purity of 98.3%, yielding 9 mg of a mixture of hyperoside and 6-methoxykaempferol-3-O-galactoside constituting over 98% of the fraction, and 16 mg of astragalin (kaempferol-3-O-glucoside) at a purity of over 99%. The pump-out peaks are isorhanetin (98% purity), kaemferol (93% purity) and quercitin (99% purity). The chemical structure of patuletin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin were confirmed by MS and 1H, 13C NMR.     

Orthogonal test design for optimization of supercritical fluid extraction of daphnoretin, 7-methoxy-daphnoretin and 1,5-diphenyl-1-pentanone from Stellera chamaejasme L. and subsequent isolation by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of daphnoretin, 7-methoxy-daphnoretin and 1,5-diphenyl-1- pentanone from Stellera chamaejasme L. was performed. An orthogonal L9 (3)4 test design was applied to select the optimum extraction parameters including pressure, temperature, modifier and sample particle size on yield using an analytical-scale SFE system. The process was then scaled up by 100 times using a preparative SFE system under the optimized conditions of 25 MPa of pressure, 45 degrees C of temperature, 40-60 mesh of sample particle size and modified CO2 with 20% methanol. The yield of the crude extract from preparative SFE was 2.65%, which contained daphnoretin 25.2%, 7-methoxy-daphnoretin 22.8% and 1,5-diphenyl-1-pentanone 21.1%, respectively. Then the crude extract was successfully isolated and separated by preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (10:13:13:10, v/v) by increasing the flow-rate of the mobile phase stepwise from 1.0 to 2.0 ml/min after 90 min. The target compounds isolated and purified by HSCCC were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The separation produced total of 69.2mg of daphnoretin at 99.2% purity, 63.4 mg of 7-methoxy-daphnoretin at 98.7% purity and 58.3 mg of 1,5-diphenyl-1-pentanone at 98.1% purity from 300 mg of the crude extract in one-step separation. The recoveries of daphnoretin, 7-methoxy-daphnoretin and 1,5-diphenyl-1-pentanone were 90.8, 91.5 and 90.4%, respectively, in HSCCC isolation step and the chemical structure identification was carried out by MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

Preparative purification of glycyrrhizin extracted from the root of liquorice using high-speed counter-current chromatography

Glycyrrhizin is one of the main bioactive components in liquorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch) which has recently been found to be highly active in inhibiting replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated virus. The separation and purification of glycyrrhizin from a methanol-water (70:30 (v/v)) extract of liquorice roots was achieved using high-speed counter-current chromatography. The separation was performed at a preparative scale in a one-step separation with a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5 (v/v)). The lower phase was used as the mobile phase in the head-to-tail elution mode. The present method yielded 42.2 mg glycyrrhizin at 96.8% purity from 130 mg of the crude exact with 95.2% recovery as determined by HPLC analysis.     

Preparative separation of lappaconitine, ranaconitine, N-deacetyllappaconitine and N-deacetylranaconitine from crude alkaloids of sample Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Analytical high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used for the systematic selection and optimization of the two-phase solvent system to separate alkaloids from Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai. The optimum solvent systems CHCl3-MeOH-0.3 M/0.2 M HCl (4:1.5:2, v/v) thus obtained led to the successful separation of lappaconitine, ranaconitine, N-deacetyllappaconitine and N-deacetylranaconitine from 60 to 500 mg of crude alkaloid sample by preparative HSCCC separation.     

Preparative isolation and purification of five compounds from the Chinese medicinal herb Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc by high-speed counter-current chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was applied to the separation and purification of five compounds from the Chinese medicinal herb Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. The crude extracts from P. cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc were treated with light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (2:5:4:6, v/v). Sample 1 was obtained from the lower phase and sample 2 from the upper phase. The sample 1 was separated with light petroleum-ethyl acetate-water (1:5:5, v/v) and yielded 19.3mg of piceid, 17.6 mg of anthraglycoside B from 200mg of sample 1. The sample 2 was separated with light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:5:4:6, v/v) and light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:5:7:3, v/v) in a gradient elution and yielded 18.5mg of resveratrol, 35.3mg of emodin and 8.2mg of physcion from 220 mg of sample 2. The purity of each compound is over 95% as determined by HPLC. The chemical structures of these components were identified by (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR.     

Large-scale separation of salvianolic acid B from the Chinese medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza by pH-zone-refining countercurrent chromatography

pH-Zone-refining countercurrent chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of salvianolic acid B from the Chinese medicinal plant, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, using a multilayer coil planet centrifuge. A 2.0 g quantity of sample was separated using the following two-phase solvent system: methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE)-water, 10 mM TFA in organic stationary phase and 10 mM ammonia in aqueous mobile phase. The obtained fractions were analyzed by HPLC and ESI-MS. The separation yielded 572 mg of the main component of salvianolic acid B with a purity of 94.1%.     

半制备型高速逆流色谱分离制备铁棒锤根中的一种咪唑生物碱

采用高速逆流色谱（HSCCC）技术从铁棒锤根氯仿提取物中分离制备了一种高纯度咪唑类生物碱1H-imidazole-2-carboxylic acid,butyl ester （ICABE）。采用高效液相色谱（HPLC）测定目标化合物在两相溶剂中的分配系数,优化HSCCC分离ICABE的溶剂体系,确定了以正己烷-氯仿-乙醇-水（10：1：13：2,v/v/v/v）为HSCCC的两相溶剂系统,以上相为固定相,下相为流动相,流动相流速为1.8 mL/min,主机转速850 r/min,检测波长为230 nm条件下进行分离制备,在350 min内从100 mg粗样品中一步分离得到7.5 mg ICABE,经HPLC检测其纯度达98%以上（峰面积归一化法）,结构由UV、¹H-NMR和¹³C-NMR得以鉴定。该方法简便、快速,所得产物纯度高,适合于铁棒锤中ICABE的制备分离。