title: Purification of betulinic acid from Eugenia florida (Myrtaceae) by high-speed counter-current chromatography.
abstract: A high yield of betulinic acid (up to 17% from the ethanolic extract) was found in the leaves of Eugenia florida collected in south-eastern Brazil, making this species a potential commercial source of the title compound. Extracts of E. florida were subjected to solvent partition, and rapid high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was applied to the semi-crude extracts to afford betulinic acid in high purity. The mobile and stationary phases were derived from the two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (10:5:2.5:1). The developing solvent system (stationary and mobile phases) for optimum HSCCC separation was chosen by dissolving the fraction to be chromatographed in the proposed solvent mixture and determining the amount of betulinic acid in each phase by densitometric TLC. Purified betulinic acid was characterized by 13C-NMR, GC-MS and co-injection of its methyl ester with standards in GC-FID. The HSCCC technique is commonly employed to isolate triterpene glycosides, but is applied in this study to an aglycone.
authors.affiliation: Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CPQBA-UNICAMP, CP 6171, Brazil. frigheto@cpqba.unicamp.br
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frighetto
authors.forename: Rodolfo Max
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Welendorf
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pereira da Silva
authors.forename: Marcos Jun
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Siani
mesh_terms: D003377:Countercurrent Distribution / Q000379:methods*; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D027842:Syzygium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
chemical_list: D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D014315:Triterpenes; D000094062:Betulinic Acid