Conventional High-speed Counter-current Chromatography Research Articles

Efficient separation of anti-inflammatory isolates from Polygonti rhizome by three different modes of high-speed counter-current chromatography.

Successful isolation of 15 compounds from Polygonti rhizome was obtained by an efficient technique combined with macroporous resin column chromatography pretreatment and three different modes of high-speed counter-current chromatography for the first time. For the pretreatment, AB-8 resin was applied to remove the polysaccharides and enrich four different parts (samples I, II, III, and IV) by polarities. For the separation, sample I was separated by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography and seven cycle recycling mode high-speed counter-current chromatography, yielding four alkaloids (1--4); samples II-IV were further separated by the conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography, yielding seven flavonoids (5-10, 12), one steroid saponin (11), and three terpenoids (13-15). Finally, the isolates were assayed for their anti-inflammatory activities against nitric oxide production with compounds 5, 9-10, 13 showing significant anti-inflammatory activities, IC50 values which were 13.0, 16.2, 17.1, and 14.7μM, respectively, while others showing moderate and weak anti-inflammatory activities, respectively.

Efficient Separation of Phytochemicals from Muehlenbeckia volcanica (Benth.) Endl. by Polarity-Stepwise Elution Counter-Current Chromatography and Their Antioxidant, Antiglycation, and Aldose Reductase Inhibition Potentials.

Muehlenbeckia volcanica (Benth.) Endl. (M. volcanica), native to South America, is a traditional Peruvian medicinal plant that has multi-therapeutic properties; however, no phytochemicals have been identified from it yet. In this study, a five-step polarity-stepwise elution counter-current chromatography (CCC) was developed using methanol/water (1:5, v/v) as the stationary phase and different ratios of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol as mobile phases to separate the compounds from the 70% methanol extract of M. volcanica, by which six compounds with a wide range of polarities were separated in a single run of CCC and were identified as gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, 4,4′-dihydroxy-3,3′-imino-di-benzoic acid, rutin, quercitrin, and quercetin. Then, two compounds from the fractions of stepwise elution CCC were separated using conventional high-speed CCC, pH-zone-refining CCC, and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, and identified as shikimic acid and miquelianin. These compounds are reported from M. volcanica for the first time. Notably, except for shikimic acid, all other compounds showed anti-diabetic potentials via antioxidant, antiglycation, and aldose reductase inhibition. The results suggest that the polarity-stepwise elution CCC can be used to efficiently separate or fractionate compounds with a wide range of polarities from natural products. Moreover, M. volcanica and its bioactive compounds are potent anti-diabetic agents.

Preparative enantioseparation of synephrine by conventional and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

Synephrine, a chiral adrenergic agonist, exists as R- (more active) and S-enantiomers (less active) that are difficult to separate because of their alkalinity and high polarity. Herein, we show that although this enantioseparation can hardly be achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography, acceptable preparative separation can be realized using high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (CCC) under optimal conditions. Specifically, 23.0 mg of S-synephrine and 25.0 mg of R-synephrine were isolated from 60.0 mg of racemic synephrine by conventional HSCCC, while 70.0 mg of S-synephrine and 69.0 mg of R-synephrine were obtained from 200.0 mg of racemic synephrine by pH-zone-refining CCC. The pH-zone-refining CCC was identified as the most efficient enantioseparation technique for synephrine and can be applied for the preparative enantioseparation of other β-amino alcohols.

Preparative isolation and purification of hainanmurpanin, meranzin, and phebalosin from leaves of Murraya exotica L. using supercritical fluid extraction combined with consecutive high-speed countercurrent chromatography.

The objective of this study was to develop a consecutive preparation method for the isolation and purification of hainanmurpanin, meranzin, and phebalosin from leaves of Murraya exotica L. The process involved supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 , solvent extraction, and two-step high-speed countercurrent chromatography. Pressure, temperature, and the volume of entrainer were optimized as 27MPa, 52°C, and 60mL by response surface methodology in supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 , and the yield of the crude extracts was 7.91g from 100g of leaves. Subsequently, 80% methanol/water was used to extract and condense the three compounds from the crude extracts, and 4.23g of methanol/water extracts was obtained. Then, a two-step high-speed countercurrent chromatography procedure was developed for the isolation of the three target compounds from methanol/water extracts, including conventional high-speed countercurrent chromatography for further enrichment and consecutive high-speed countercurrent chromatography for purification. The yield of concentrates from high-speed countercurrent chromatography was 2.50g from 4.23g of methanol/water extracts. Finally, the consecutive high-speed countercurrent chromatography produced 103.2mg of hainanmurpanin, 244.7mg of meranzin, and 255.4mg of phebalosin with purities up to 97.66, 99.36, and 98.64%, respectively, from 900mg of high-speed countercurrent chromatography concentrates in one run of three consecutive sample loadings without exchanging a solvent system.

Extraction and purification of five terpenoids from olibanum by ultrahigh pressure technique and high-speed countercurrent chromatography.

Five terpenoids, including two new ones, 3,7-dioxo-tirucalla-8,24-dien-21-oic acid (2) and 3α-acetoxyl-7-oxo-tirucalla-8,24-dien-21-oic acid (3), and three known ones, boscartol A (1), 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (4), and acetyl-11-keto-boswellic acid (5), have been extracted by the ultrapressure extraction and purified by pH-zone-refining countercurrent chromatography and high-speed countercurrent chromatography from olibanum. For ultrapressure extraction, the optimal condition including 200 MPa of extraction pressure, ethyl acetate of extraction solvent, 1:20 (g/mL) of solid/liquid ratio, and 2min of extraction time were obtained. For the separation, from 1.5 g of the terpenoid extract, 220.1mg of 4, 255.5mg of 5, and 212.3mg of the mixture of 1, 2, and 3 were obtained by pH-zone-refining countercurrent chromatography under the solvent system of chloroform/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (3:1:3:2, v/v/v/v) with aqueous ammonia and trifluoroacetic acid as retention and eluter agents. The enriched mixture (210mg) was further separated by conventional high-speed countercurrent chromatography with petroleum ether/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:0.8:1.1:0.6, v/v/v/v), yielding 30.1mg of 1, 35.5mg of 2, 12.3mg of 3. The structures of these five terpenoids were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods.

Combinative application of pH-zone-refining and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography for preparative separation of caged polyprenylated xanthones from gamboge.

An efficient method for the preparative separation of four structurally similar caged xanthones from the crude extracts of gamboge was established, which involves the combination of pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography for the first time. pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography was performed with the solvent system composed of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (7:3:8:2, v/v/v/v), where 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid was added to the upper organic stationary phase as a retainer and 0.03% triethylamine was added to the aqueous mobile phase as an eluter. From 3.157 g of the crude extract, 1.134 g of gambogic acid, 180.5 mg of gambogenic acid and 572.9 mg of a mixture of two other caged polyprenylated xanthones were obtained. The mixture was further separated by conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography with a solvent system composed of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (5:5:10:5, v/v/v/v) and n-hexane/methyl tert-butyl ether/acetonitrile/water (8:2:6:4,v/v/v/v), yielding 11.6 mg of isogambogenic acid and 10.4 mg of β-morellic acid from 218.0 mg of the mixture, respectively. The purities of all four of the compounds were over 95%, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and the chemical structures of the four compounds were confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The combinative application of pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography shows great advantages in isolating and enriching the caged polyprenylated xanthones.

One-step separation of nine structural analogues from Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf. via tandem high-speed counter-current chromatography.

A novel one-step separation strategy-tandem high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed with a six-port valve serving as the switch interface. Nine structural analogues including three isomers were successfully isolated from Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf. by one step. Compared with conventional HSCCC, peak resolution of target compounds was effectively improved in tandem one. Purities of isolated compounds were all over 90% as determined by HPLC. Their structures were then identified via UV, MS and (1)H NMR, and eventually assigned as poricoic acid B (1), poricoic acid A (2), 3β,16α-dihydroxylanosta-7, 9(11), 24-trien-21-oic acid (3), dehydrotumulosic acid (4), polyporenic acid C (5), 3-epi-dehydrotumulosic acid (6), 3-o-acetyl-16α-hydroxydehydrotrametenolic acid (7), dehydropachymic acid (8) and dehydrotrametenolic acid (9) respectively. The results indicated that tandem HSCCC can effectively improve peak resolution of target compounds, and can be a good candidate for HSCCC separation of structural analogues.

Enrichment and separation of antitumor triterpene acids from the epidermis of Poria cocos by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography.

Triterpene acids were extracted from the epidermis of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf. These acids were found to inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. An efficient method for the preparative separation of antitumor triterpene acids was established that involves the combination of pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography. We used pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography to concentrate the triterpene acids using a two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (3:7:5:5, v/v/v/v), trifluoroacetic acid (10 mM) was added to the upper phase as a retainer, and ammonia (10 mM) was added to the lower phase as an eluter. As a result, 200 mg concentrate of triterpene acids was obtained from 1.0 g of crude extract. The concentrate was further separated by conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography using a solvent system composed of petroleum ether/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (0.8:1.2:1.2:0.9, v/v), yielding 50 mg of poricoic acid A and 5 mg of poricoic acid B from 120 mg concentrate, respectively. The inhibitory activity of the major compound on lung A549 cells was examined and poricoic acid A was found to significantly inhibit the growth of A 549 cells.

Preparative separation of alkaloids from Picrasma quassioides (D. Don) Benn. by conventional and pH-zone-refining countercurrent chromatography.

Two high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) modes were compared by separation of major alkaloids from crude extract of Picrasma quassioides. The conventional HSCCC separation was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:5:4.5:5.5, v/v/v/v) with 200 mg loading. pH-Zone-refining CCC was performed with two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether–ethyl acetate–n-butanol–water (3:2:7:9, v/v/v/v) where triethylamine (10 mM) was added to the upper organic stationary phase and hydrochloric acid (5 mM) was added to the lower aqueous phase with 2 g loading. From 2 g of crude extract, 87 mg of 5-methoxycanthin-6-one (a), 38 mg of 1-methoxy-β-carboline (b), 134 mg of 1-ethyl-4,8-dimethoxy-β-carboline (c), 74 mg of 1-ethoxycarbonyl-β-carboline (d), 56 mg of 1-vinyl-4,8-dimethoxy-β-carboline (e) and 26 mg of 1-vinyl-4-dimethoxy-β-carboline (f) were obtained with purities of over 97.0%. The results indicated that pH-zone-refining CCC is an excellent separations tool at the multigram level.

Separation and purification of four compounds from Desmodium styracifolium using off‐line two‐dimensional high‐speed counter‐current chromatography

An off-line 2D high-speed counter-current chromatography technique in preparative scale has been successfully applied to separate and purify the main compounds from the ethyl acetate extract of Desmodium styracifolium. A two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water at an optimized volume ratio of 1:2:1:2 v/v/v/v was used. Conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography was used as the first dimension, and the upper phase of the solvent system was used as the stationary phase in the head-to-tail elution mode at a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min and a rotation speed of 900 rpm. Recycling high-speed counter-current chromatography served as the second dimension to separate an impure fraction of the first dimension. A total of four well-separated substances including vanillic acid (1), β-sitosterol (2), formononetin (3), and aromadendrin (4) were obtained, and their purities and structures were identified by HPLC-MS and (1) H NMR spectroscopy. The results illustrated that off-line 2D high-speed counter-current chromatography is an effective way to isolate compounds in complex samples.

PH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography: Origin, mechanism, procedure and applications

Since 1980, high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) has been used for separation and purification of natural and synthetic products in a standard elution mode. In 1991, a novel elution mode called pH-zone refining CCC was introduced from an incidental discovery that an organic acid in the sample solution formed the sharp peak of an acid analyte. The cause of this sharp peak formation was found to be bromoacetic acid present in the sample solution which formed a sharp trailing border to trap the acidic analyte. Further studies on the separation of DNP-amino acids with three spacer acids in the stationary phase revealed that increased sample size resulted in the formation of fused rectangular peaks, each preserving high purity and zone pH with sharp boundaries. The mechanism of this phenomenon was found to be the formation of a sharp trailing border of an acid (retainer) in the column which moves at a lower rate than that of the mobile phase. In order to facilitate the application of the method, a new method was devised using a set of retainer and eluter to form a sharp retainer rear border which moves through the column at a desired rate regardless of the composition of the two-phase solvent system. This was achieved by adding the retainer in the stationary phase and the eluter in the mobile phase at a given molar ratio. Using this new method the hydrodynamics of pH-zone-refining CCC was diagrammatically illustrated by three acidic samples. In this review paper, typical pH-zone-refining CCC separations were presented, including affinity separations with a ligand and a separation of a racemic mixture using a chiral selector in the stationary phase. Major characteristics of pH-zone-refining CCC over conventional HSCCC are as follows: the sample loading capacity is increased over 10 times; fractions are highly concentrated near saturation level; yield is improved by increasing the sample size; minute charged compounds are concentrated and detected at the peak boundaries; and elution peaks are monitored with a pH flow meter for compounds with no chromophore. Since 1994, over 70 research papers on pH-zone-refining CCC have been published with the trends increasing in the recent years.

Preparative enantioseparation of β-blocker drugs by counter-current chromatography using dialkyl l-tartrate as chiral selector based on borate coordination complex

Counter-current chromatography (CCC) was applied for preparative enantioseparation of three β-blocker drugs, including propranolol, pindolol and alprenolol. The two-phase solvent system was composed of chloroform–0.05molL−1 acetate buffer containing 0.10molL−1 boric acid (1:1, v/v), in which 0.10molL−1 di-n-hexyl l-tartrate was added in the organic phase as chiral selector. Influence factors in the enantioseparation of propranolol were investigated. The chromatographic retention mechanism based on borate coordination complex was proposed. 116mg of racemic propranolol was completely enantioseparated using conventional high speed CCC in a single run, yielding 48mg of (+)-propranolol with HPLC purity of 98.9% and 47mg of (−)-propranolol with HPLC purity of 96.3%. Recovery for propranolol enantiomers from CCC fractions was in the range of 75–82%. pH-zone-refining CCC was also successfully applied in enantioseparation of propanolol and it was found that 356mg of racemic propranolol could be completely enantioseparated. 145mg of (+)-enantiomer with HPLC purity of 95.6% and 148mg of (−)-enantiomer with HPLC purity of 98.2% were recovered from pH-zone-refining mode. Separation mechanism about chiral separation by pH-zone-refining CCC was discussed.

Separation of alkaloids from herbs using high‐speed counter‐current chromatography

Alkaloids represent a most widespread group of bioactive natural products. Because of their alkalinity and structural diversity, the fractionation and purification of the alkaloids from herbs can often present a number of practical difficulties using the conventional chromatographic techniques. High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) is a liquid-liquid partition chromatography with a support-free liquid stationary phase, and is gaining more and more popularity as a viable separation technique for bioactive compounds from natural resources. In the present review, focus is placed on the separation of alkaloids by both conventional HSCCC and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (CCC) techniques from herbs. The review presents the separation of over 120 different alkaloid compounds from more than 30 plant species by the conventional HSCCC and pH-zone-refining CCC. Based on the data from the literature, the proper solvent systems for the separation of alkaloids by the conventional HSCCC and pH-zone-refining CCC are also summarized.

Combinative application of pH-zone-refining and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography for preparative separation of alkaloids from Stephania kwangsiensis

A method which involves the combination of pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (pH-zone-refining CCC) and conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was established for the preparative separation of alkaloids from the crude extracts of Stephania kwangsiensis. pH-zone-refining CCC was first performed with the solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (3:7:1:9, v/v), 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 2.0 g of crude extract, 370 mg of sinoacutine and 600 mg of a mixture of three other alkaloids were obtained. Then, the mixture was further separated by conventional HSCCC with the solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (7:3:6:4, v/v), yielding 42 mg of (−)-crebanine, 50 mg of (−)-stephanine and 30 mg of l-romerine from 150 mg mixture of three other alkaloids, respectively. The purities of the four compounds were all over 98% as determined by HPLC, and the chemical structures of the four compounds were confirmed by positive ESI–MS and 1H NMR data. Results of the present study successfully indicated that this method was efficient for the preparative separation of alkaloids from natural plants.

Separation and purification of echinacoside from Penstemon barbatus (Can.) Roth by recycling high-speed counter-current chromatography

Echinacoside is an important bioactive compound extracted from Cistanche tubulosa which was endangered by overexploitation. It is imperative to find an alternative source. Echinacoside was isolated from Penstemon barbatus (Can.) Roth for the first time. The peak contents of echinacoside are 9.09 ± 0.32 mg/g and 7.25 ± 0.36 mg/g respectively in the leaves and roots annually. The methanolic extracts from 20 g of dried powder of the roots of P. barbatus were pre-purified by AB-8 resin and the fraction containing echinacoside was further purified by conventional high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and recycling HSCCC with the solvent system n-butanol–water (1:1, v/v). Totally 42.0 mg echinacoside with a purity of 96.3% was recovered. The recovery rate of echinacoside by recycling HSCCC reached 91.0%. The structure of our echinacoside confirmed by IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR is identical to the standard sample. This indicates that P. barbatus might be ideal source for preparation of large scale of echinacoside.

Preparative separation of alkaloids from Nelumbo nucifera leaves by conventional and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

Two modes of high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) were successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from crude extract of Nelumbo nucifera leaves. The conventional HSCCC separations were performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of tetrachloromethane–CHCl 3–methanol–0.1 M HCl at a volume ratio of 1:3:3:2 (v/v/v/v), and 120 mg crude extract could be successfully separated. pH-Zone-refining CCC was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether (60–90 °C)–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:5:2:8, v/v/v/v) 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 eluent. From 4.0 g of the crude extract, 120 mg N-nornuciferine, 1020 mg nuciferine and 96 mg roemerine were obtained in a single run each with a purity of over 98% as determined by HPLC. The structures of the isolated compounds were identified by ESI-MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR.

Preparative separation of isomeric sulfophthalic acids by conventional and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

Two modes of high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) were applied to separate 3- and 4-sulfophthalic acid from a mixture. Conventional HSCCC was useful for the separation of up to several hundred milligram quantities of these positional isomers, while pH-zone-refining CCC was implemented successfully to separations at the multigram level. The conventional HSCCC separations were performed with a standard J-type HSCCC system that has a superior resolution but a lower level of retention of the stationary phase of the biphasic solvent system used (acidified n-butanol–water). The pH-zone-refining CCC separations were performed with an X-type HSCCC system (a cross-axis system) that has a higher capability for retention of the stationary phase. The purified positional isomers (over 99% pure as determined by HPLC) were characterized by 1H NMR and negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.