title: Intermittent counter-current extraction as an alternative approach to purification of Chinese herbal medicine.
abstract: This paper describes intermittent counter-current extraction, a novel method of using a conventional twin column counter-current chromatograph to either split a sample into two groups of compounds or extract and enrich a target compound from a crude extract. The first method is demonstrated by splitting a model mixture of four compounds into two groups. The second method is demonstrated by the extraction and enrichment of a high value target compound, triptolide, from a Chinese herbal medicine crude extract of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f., where it is found at low concentration (2%). This was achieved by retaining and enriching the target compound within the column while washing away all other components of the crude material. The success of the first method allowed the second method to be carried out without the need for costly preliminary experiments with the high value sample. 188mg of triptolide at greater than 98% purity was separated from 9.2g of crude extract, using 10l of solvent in a 3-h separation.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Bioprocessing Centre, Brunel Institute for Bioengineering, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK. peter.hewitson@brunel.ac.uk
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hewitson
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ignatova
authors.forename: Haoyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sutherland
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry; D003377:Countercurrent Distribution / Q000379:methods*; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004867:Equipment Design; D006586:Hexanes / Q000737:chemistry; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D029757:Tripterygium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D004224:Diterpenes; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D006586:Hexanes; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D014867:Water; C001899:triptolide; C026385:n-hexane; C007650:ethyl acetate; D000432:Methanol