Integrated countercurrent extraction of natural products: a combination of liquid and solid supports

Preparative separation of ten flavonoids from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi roots using two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography with an online-storage, dilution, and mixing interface

The process of counter-current chromatography (CCC) separation for natural products typically necessitates the use of multiple solvent systems to accommodate constituents with a wide range of polarities. However, the incompatibility between these different solvent systems often results in unsuccessful online 2D successive separations. In this study, a 2D CCC system was developed, featuring an interface for online-storage, dilution, and mixing. It facilitated the implementation of online 2D CCC using different solvent systems. The method was subsequently applied for the preparative isolation of flavonoids from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi roots. For 1D CCC, n-heptane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (HepEMWat, 5:5:4:6, v/v) was utilized, while for 2D CCC, ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (EBuWat, 0:5:5, v/v) was employed. The eluent with low resolution in 1D CCC was stored online, diluted three times using the lower phase of EBuWat (0:5:5, v/v), and subsequently transferred into 2D CCC for further isolation utilizing the same EBuWat (0:5:5, v/v) system. As results, six lipophilic compounds were isolated in 1D CCC in a normal mode, while two major hydrophilic constituents were isolated in a pH-peak-focusing mode in 2D CCC. Additionally, two additional compounds were purified through subsequent semi-preparative HPLC separation in order to resolve co-elution in 2D CCC. The developed 2D CCC system with a multifunctional interface demonstrated to be an exceptionally efficient and promising approach for the high-throughput purification of complex natural products.

Interference mechanism of Sophora alopecuroides L. alkaloids extract on host finding and selection of the Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

Manipulating insect behavior through the deployment of semiochemicals offers a promising opportunity for protecting crops in a sustainable manner. Therefore, there is still a significant opportunity for the development of natural crop protectants as eco-friendly tools in pest management. In this context, the aim of the current investigation is to find a novel prophylactic against the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and to gain a better understanding of the host-finding and selection ability of the ACP towards Murraya paniculata seedlings treated with Sophora alopecuroides alkaloids extract (SAAE). Our results indicate that foliar application of SAAE influences the psyllid host-finding and selection process. The behavioral assay with M. paniculata seedlings treated with 15 and 30 mg/mL of SAAE, with masked visual cues, revealed that only 6.6 and 10.4% psyllids were able to locate the host in the vials. The results also indicate that citrus psyllids mainly rely on both visual and olfaction in host-finding and selection. In choice settling experiments, psyllids settled almost completely on control seedlings rather than on seedlings treated with SAAE at a concentration of 30 mg/mL. Chemical analyses of the alkaloids extract revealed the presence of sophocarpine (33.90%), sophoridine (6.23%), anagyrine (2.77%), matrine (2.38%), lupanine (1.68%) aphylline (0.89%), and sophoramine (0.75%). In further behavioral bioassays with the dominant alkaloids sophocarpine and sophoridine, the alkaloids repelled ACP at higher concentrations of 50 and 70 mg/mL as compared to SAAE. Furthermore, the 50 mg/mL (1:1, v/v) combination of sophocarpine and sophoridine displayed a synergistic effect and showed the maximum behavioral effect as compared to the individual alkaloid. Based on our results, SAAE makes M. paniculata seedlings unattractive to the psyllids, and therefore, alkaloids could be used in reducing the colonization of citrus plants, subsequently curtailing HLB infection.

High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography with an Online Storage Technique for the Preparative Isolation and Purification of Dihydroflavonoids from Sophora alopecuroides L

INTRODUCTION

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) is an efficient and non-absorption separation technique, but limitations still exist in simultaneous isolation of complex structures of natural products. Moreover, particular methods are various for different kinds of natural products.

OBJECTIVE

A novel HSCCC strategy combined with an online storage recycling elution (OSR-CCC) technique was developed for the quick separation of naturally occurring dihydroflavonoids from the extract of the herb Sophora alopecuroides L.

METHODOLOGY

In the separation procedure, a storage loop and two six-port valves were connected to a HSCCC system. Effluent A was subjected to an online storage loop and then to recycling separation three times after effluent B was collected in head-to-tail mode. After completion of the recycling separation of effluent A, the elution was switched to tail-to-head mode to collect effluent C. A biphasic solvent system of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (9:6:6:8, v/v/v/v) was used as the separation solvent during the whole elution.

RESULTS

Six constituents were isolated simultaneously from the extract (200 mg) of S. alopecuroides by running HSCCC non-stop, and their purities were higher than 95.0%. Their structures were determined as the pterocarpan glycoside sophoratonkin (1) (10.0 mg) and five dihydroflavonoids, alopecurone F (2) (5.4 mg), lehmannin (3) (11.0 mg), alopecurone A (4) (35.0 mg), sophoraflavanone G (5) (21.0 mg), alopecurone B (6) (31.0 mg).

CONCLUSION

This recycling HSCCC method combined with an online storage technique could be a rapid, effective and simple approach to isolate stilbene-dihydroflavonoids from herbs of the Sophora genus simultaneously. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On-line two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography×high performance liquid chromatography system with a novel fragmentary dilution and turbulent mixing interface for preparation of coumarins from Cnidium monnieri

This study describes a novel on-line two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography×high performance liquid chromatography (2D CCC×HPLC) system for one-step preparative isolation of coumarins from the fruits of Cnidium monnieri. An optimal biphasic solvent system composed of n-heptane/acetone/water (31:50:19, v/v) with suitable Kd values and a higher retention of the stationary phase was chosen to separate target compounds. In order to address the solvent incompatibility problem between CCC and RP-HPLC, a novel fragmentary dilution and turbulent mixing (FD-TM) interface was successfully developed. In detail, the eluent from the first dimensional CCC column was divided into fractions to form 'sample-dilution' stripes in the two switching sample loops, by the dilution water from the makeup pump. Following this, a long, thin tube was applied to mix the CCC eluent with water by in-tube turbulence, to reduce the solvent effect. Each CCC fraction was alternately trapped on the two holding columns for further preparative HPLC separation. This nationally designed FD-TM strategy effectively reduced post-column pressure and allowed a higher water dilution ratio at the post end of CCC, leading to improved sample recovery and a robust 2D CCC×HPLC isolation system. As a result, in a single 2D separation run (6.5h), eight target compounds (1-8) were isolated from 0.5g crude extract of C. monnieri, in overall yields of 1.3, 2.0, 0.5, 0.5, 0.8, 1.5, 8.2, and 15.0%, with HPLC purity of 90.1, 91.1, 94.7, 99.1, 99.2, 98.2, 97.9, and 91.9%, respectively. We anticipate that this improved 2D CCC×HPLC system, based on the novel FD-TM interface, has broad application for simultaneous isolation and purification of multiple components from other complex plant-derived natural products.

Ultrasound-assisted dynamic extraction coupled with parallel countercurrent chromatography for simultaneous extraction, purification, and isolation of phytochemicals: application to isoflavones from red clover

A novel procedure comprising ultrasonic-assisted dynamic extraction (UADE) coupled with two countercurrent-chromatography systems (parallel countercurrent chromatography, PCCC) was developed. This technique offers the possibility for simultaneous extraction, solvent configuration, purification, and isolation of target compounds. This new approach was applied to the fractionation and purification of isoflavones from red clover. The two-phase solvent system was prepared by automating the equipment. The lower aqueous phase of the two-phase solvent system was used as the UADE solution and as the mobile phase for PCCC. After the extraction and purification steps, the purified sample was pumped into the countercurrent chromatography 1 (CCC1) column for the first isolation step. During CCC1 separation, the sample was enriched and purified and then pumped into the CCC2 column for the second isolation step. After completion of the first cycle of UADE-PCCC steps, the second-cycle experiments were performed. Using this sequence, five target compounds, daidzein, prunetin, genistein, irilone, and maackiain, with >95.31 % purity were successfully extracted and isolated using the two-phase solvent system of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-ethanol-water (0.623:1.00:0.99:1.246, v/v). With this instrumental setup, scientific and systematic extraction and isolation of natural products was achieved, and this technique has great potential for industrial application. Graphical Abstract Simplified schematic of instrumental setup of UADE combined with two HSCCC instruments.

Development of a method to extract and purify target compounds from medicinal plants in a single step: online hyphenation of expanded bed adsorption chromatography and countercurrent chromatography

Pure compounds extracted and purified from natural sources are crucial to lead discovery and drug screening. This study presents a novel two-dimensional hyphenation of expanded bed adsorption chromatography (EBAC) and high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) for extraction and purification of target compounds from medicinal plants in a single step. The EBAC and HSCCC were hyphenated via a six-port injection valve as an interface. Fractionation of ingredients of Salvia miltiorrhiza and Rhizoma coptidis was performed on the hyphenated system to verify its efficacy. Two compounds were harvested from Salvia miltiorrhiza, one was 52.9 mg of salvianolic acid B with an over 95% purity and the other was 2.1 mg of rosmarinic acid with a 74% purity. Another two components were purified from Rhizoma coptidis, one was 4.6 mg of coptisine with a 98% purity and one was 4.1 mg of berberine with a 82% purity. The processing time was nearly 50% that of the multistep method. The results indicate that the present method is a rapid and green way to harvest targets from medicinal plants in a single step.

Two-dimensional countercurrent chromatography × high performance liquid chromatography for preparative isolation of toad venom

In this work, a new on-line two-dimensional chromatography coupling of flow programming counter-current chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (2D CCC×HPLC) was developed for preparative separation of complicated natural products. The CCC column was used as the first dimensional isolation and a preparative ODS column operated in reversed-phase (RP) mode as the second dimension. The CCC was operated at a controlled flow rate to ensure that each fraction eluted within one hour, corresponding to the isolation time of the 2nd dimensional preparative HPLC. The eluent from the 1st dimensional CCC was diluted using a makeup pump and trapped onto holding column, before been eluted and transferred to the 2nd dimensional HPLC. The performance of the holding column was evaluated, in terms of column size, dilution ratio and diameter-height ratio, as well as system pressure, for the solution to the issue of online trapping of low pressure eluent from a CCC column. Satisfactory trapping efficiency and tolerable CCC pressure can be achieved using a commercially available 15mm×30mm i.d. ODS pre-column. The present integrated system was successfully applied in a one-step preparative separation of 12 compounds, from the crude methanol extract of venom of Bufo bufo gargarizans. Compounds 1-12 were isolated in overall yield of 1.0%, 0.8%, 2.0%, 1.3%, 2.0%, 1.5%, 1.9%, 3.6%, 6.1%, 4.8%, 3.5% and 4.1%, with HPLC purity of 99.9%, 99.7%, 90.6%, 99.9%, 77.0%, 99.9%, 90.4%, 99.9%, 52.0%, 99.9%, 99.3%, and 85.0%, respectively. All the results demonstrate that the flow programming CCC×HPLC method is an efficient and convenient way for the separation of compounds from toad venom and it can also be applied to isolate other complex multi-component natural products.

State-of-the-art separation of ginsenosides from Korean white and red ginseng by countercurrent chromatography

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) has been one of the most popular herbs used for nutritional and medicinal purposes by the people of eastern Asia for thousands of years. Ginsenosides, the mostly widely studied chemical components of ginseng, are quite different depending on the processing method used. A number of studies demonstrate the countercurrent chromatography (CCC) separation of ginsenosides from several sources; however, there is no single report demonstrating a one-step separation of all of these ginsenosides from different sources. In the present study, we have successfully developed an efficient CCC separation methodology in which the flow-rate gradient technique was coupled with a new solvent gradient dilution strategy for the isolation of ginsenosides from Korean white (peeled off dried P. ginseng) and red ginseng (steam-treated P. ginseng). The crude samples were initially prepared by extraction with butanol and were further purified with CCC using solvent gradients composed of methylene chloride-methanol-isopropanol-water (different ratios, v/v). Gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector was used to analyze the components of the two-phase solvent mixture. Each phase solvent mixture was prepared without presaturation, which saves time and reduces the solvent consumption. Finally, 13 ginsenosides have been purified from red ginseng with the new technique, including Rg1, Re, Rf, Rg2, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Rg3, Rk1, Rg5, Rg6, and F4. Meanwhile, eight ginsenosides have been purified from white ginseng, including Rg1, Re, Rf, Rh1, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd by using a single-solvent system. Thus, the present technique could be used for the purification of ginsenosides from all types' ginseng sources. To our knowledge, this is the first report involving the separation of ginsenoside Rg2 and Rg6 and the one-step separation of thirteen ginsenosides from red ginseng by CCC.

Aplysqualenol A binds to the light chain of dynein type 1 (DYNLL1)

A bidirectional affinity system has been developed for the identification of cancer-related natural products and their biological targets. Aplysqualenol A is thus selectively identified as a ligand of the dynein light chain. The use of forward and reverse affinity methods suggests that both small-molecule isolation and target identification can be conducted using conventional molecular biological methods.