Abstract
Isoquinoline alkaloids are the main group of secondary metabolites present in Chelidonium majus extracts, and they are still the object of interest of many researchers. Therefore, the development of methods for the investigation and separation of the alkaloids is still an important task. In this work, the application potential of a silica-based monolithic column for the separation of alkaloids was assessed. The influence of the organic modifier, temperature, salt concentration, and pH of the eluent on basic chromatographic parameters such as retention, resolution between neighboring peaks, chromatographic plate numbers, and peak asymmetry were investigated. Based on the obtained results, a gradient elution program was developed and used to separate and quantitatively determine the main alkaloids in a Chelidonium majus root extract.
Highlights
Alkaloids are a highly diverse group of compounds that naturally occur in the plant kingdom [1,2].There are many definitions describing this group; from an analytical point of view, the most important feature of alkaloids is their basic character resulting from the presence of a heterocyclic nitrogen atom [3].In this group of compounds, isoquinoline alkaloids represent a large subgroup characterized by the occurrence of an isoquinoline or tetrahydroisoquinoline ring in the molecule [4,5]
Depending on pH, alkaloids may exist as free bases or as cationic forms; this results in the occurrence of the dual retention mechanism (RP and the ion-exchange retention mechanism) on the RP-type stationary phase
E.g., the resolution between neighboring peaks (Rs ), the symmetry of peaks (As ), and system efficiency expressed as a theoretical plate number (N), must be taken into consideration
Summary
There are many definitions describing this group; from an analytical point of view, the most important feature of alkaloids is their basic character resulting from the presence of a heterocyclic nitrogen atom [3]. In this group of compounds, isoquinoline alkaloids represent a large subgroup characterized by the occurrence of an isoquinoline or tetrahydroisoquinoline ring in the molecule [4,5]. Plants containing high levels of isoquinoline alkaloids, e.g., Chelidonium majus, have been widely used in traditional folk medicine as a remedy for eye diseases, ulcers, skin eczema, and gastric problems such as colic and jaundice [8].
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