Synthesis and characteristic of 1-amino-2-propanol-based ionic liquids and effective extraction of antioxidants from Mugwort

Abstract

Green extraction of natural products from plants is of high importance to the pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals industry. Novel bio-renewable ionic liquids, a class of safe and powerful medium, has aroused broad attention from the field of extraction and separation. In the present study, the 1-amino-2-propanol-based ionic liquids (PA-ILs) were used to selectively extract the antioxidants from Mugwort (Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Vant.). As revealed from the results, among ten PA-ILs carrying different counter anions, the PA/mandelic acid, PA/EDTA and PA/lactic acid exhibited the best extraction efficiency to polyphenols (120.34 mg/g), flavones (128.87 mg/g) and polysaccharides (43.62 mg/g), respectively. Furthermore, the time-dependent DPPH radical scavenging shown that flavones are the major antioxidants and PA-ILs extractants were higher than those of conventional solvents. According to the reversed-phase HPLC profiles, more polar substances (e.g. glycosides) existed in ILs extract compared with alcohols solvent. The Fermi resonance in the FT-IR spectrum indicated the complex H-bonding framework in ILs, which may act as a crucial factor to assess extraction performance. Moreover, the in vitro studies reported that the cytotoxicity of PA-ILs for HaCaT and Caco-2 cell lines was less than that of pure PA. It was, therefore, demonstrated that PA-ILs are a secure medium that can help alternate organic solutions.