Separation and purification of 10-deacetylbaccatin III by high-speed counter-current chromatography

A nanocellulose molecularly imprinted membrane: Preparation, characterization and application in targeted separation of taxane 10-deacetylbaccatin III

Targeted separation of active phytochemicals is urgently needed in the natural medicine field. In this paper, due to the natural porosity and high biocompatibility of cellulose, a nanocellulose membrane combined with surface molecular imprinting was successfully prepared; the efficient nanocellulose-based molecular imprinted membrane (NC-MIM) provided good adsorption for the targeted separation of phytochemicals such as 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB), an essential intermediate in the synthesis of the anticancer drug paclitaxel. Through a series of characterization and adsorption experiments, the adsorption mechanism of NC-MIM was determined. At pH 8.0 and temperatures of 20 °C-40 °C, the maximum capacity of NC-MIM for adsorption of 10-DAB reached 66.90 mg g - 1, and the content of 10-DAB was dramatically increased 17.5-fold after adsorption. The specific adsorption results showed that NC-MIM had excellent capacity for targeted separation of 10-DAB from among taxane structural analogues. Even after ten cycles, NC-MIM demonstrated a remarkable adsorption capacity of 86.43%, thereby indicating exceptional selectivity and stability. The successful implementation of NC-MIM for green, safe, and efficient enrichment of phytochemicals from plants provides a promising new approach and valuable insights into its practical application.

Folding fan mode counter-current chromatography offers fast blind screening for drug discovery. Case study: finding anti-enterovirus 71 agents from Anemarrhena asphodeloides

A new application of counter-current chromatography (CCC) in drug discovery, called folding fan mode (FFM), is designed to eliminate the extensive and time-consuming calculation of the partition coefficients of some preset compounds in conventional CCC separation. Careful reading of reports in the literature reveals that, when two-phase solvent systems are listed in a polarity-increasing sequence, the isolates also show a similar trend in polarity. The relationship between the two-phase solvent system and the isolates is like that between the folds and the picture of a folding fan. We can directly select a two-phase solvent system to separate fractions having similar polarity, just as opening a fan reveals a picture. The solvent ratio of two-phase solvent systems can be adjusted according to the polarity and weight ratio of active fractions rather than the partition coefficients. Without preset compounds, FFM-CCC not only requires no measurement of partition coefficients, but also achieves true blind screening. This paper reports the method's first success in drug discovery: six anti-EV71 saponins were found from the mixture (9.13 g) of ethanol extract and water extract of Anemarrhena asphodeloides after a total of four CCC separations, using hexan/ethyl acetate/methanol/butanol/water as the model solvent system. Among these saponins, timosaponin B-II displayed a comparable IC50 (4.3 ± 2.1 μM) and a 40-fold higher selective index (SI=92.9) than the positive control (IC50=361.7 ± 104.6 μM, SI=2.4), ribavirin. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of these compounds was also studied.

Separation of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-deacetylbaccatin III from the remainder extracts free of paclitaxel using macroporous resins

The separation and enrichment of 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB III) and 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel were studied on seven macroporous resins with special structures. The performance of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III on macroporous resins including AB-8, ADS-17, ADS-21, ADS-31, ADS-8, H1020 and NKA-II was compared according to their adsorption and desorption properties. AB-8 provided a much higher adsorption capacity for 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III than other resins, and its adsorption data fitted well to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. According to the adsorption and desorption capacities and the adsorption isotherms, AB-8 demonstrated a remarkable capability for the preparative separation of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III from the remainder extracts free of paclitaxel. In order to optimize parameters of separation, dynamic adsorption and desorption experiments were carried out on the columns packed with AB-8 resin. The optimal conditions were: the processing volume 15 BV; concentrations of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III in feed solution 0.0657 mg/mL and 0.1494 mg/mL; flow rate 1 mL/min; temperature 35 degrees C. The gradient elution program was as follows: 30% ethanol for 3 BV, then 80% of ethanol for 6 BV, flow rate 1 mL/min. After the AB-8 resin treatment, the contents of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III in the product had increased from 0.053% and 0.2% to 3.34% and 1.69%, which were 62.43-fold and 8.54-fold of those in the untreated extracts, respectively, and the recoveries of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III were 85.85% and 52.78%. The performance achieved good separation and higher recovery of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III from remainder extracts free of paclitaxel by using AB-8 resin. It is a fast and effective method for the separation and enrichment of 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyl paclitaxel and 10-DAB III.

Rapid separation of four main taxoids inTaxus species by a combined LLP-SPE-HPLC (PAD) procedure

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of paclitaxel and three related taxoids, 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB III), baccatin III, and cephalomannine, in the extracts from the needles of three Chinese yew species, Taxus cuspidata, T. chinensis, and T. media. SPE was applied as the sample preparation technique and RP-HPLC with a photodiode array detector (PAD) was used for the analysis of extract samples. The crude extracts were treated with an improved SPE cartridge packed with a combination of 1-vinyl-pyrrolidin-2-one and divinyl-benzene. The eluent was 75% methanol. The following separation was achieved with a gradient program on an HIQ SIL C18W column in a system of ACN/water within 60 min. The samples were detected by PAD at wavelengths of 232.1 nm for 10-DAB III, 229.8 nm for baccatin III and paclitaxel, and 223.9 nm for cephalomannine. The content of 10-DAB III, baccatin III, cephalomannine, and paclitaxel varied from 0.0277 to 0.0875, 0.0254 to 0.0405, 0.0715 to 0.2486, and 0.0996 to 0.1301 mg/g in fresh needles of the above yew species, respectively. The assay achieved good resolution in the separation between the four compounds, and it can be used for quality control or purity determination for those in bulk and pharmceutical dosage forms.

Developments in the application of counter-current chromatography to plant analysis

Counter-current chromatography is a very versatile separation technique which does not require a solid stationary phase. It relies simply on the partition of a sample between the two phases of an immiscible solvent system. Some of the more recent applications of the method to the separation of plant-derived natural products are described here. Crude plant extracts and semi-pure fractions can be chromatographed, with sample loads ranging from milligrams to grams. Aqueous and non-aqueous solvent systems are used and the separation of compounds with a wide range of polarities is possible. The technique is complementary to other chromatographic methods and is compatible with gradient systems. The possibilities for solvent selection are almost limitless but some guidelines for the choice of successful systems are presented.

Solid-phase extraction and simplified high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of 10-deacetylbaccatin III and related taxoids in yew species

Solid-phase extraction was accomplished with specially prepared cartridges filled with silanised silica gel (RP-2) for the purpose of 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB III) and related taxoids extracts purification obtained from different yew materials. In the first method, the analysed taxoids eluted in 75% methanol, but in the second method, the preliminary elution with 30% methanol was made. DAB III and its six derivatives were separated from co-extractives in merely acetonitrile-water gradient mode during 25 min on Waters Symmetry C-18 column with photodiode array (PDA) detection. The total recoveries for 10-DAB III and paclitaxel in the first SPE method (all compounds were applied in amounts of 80 microg) were about 98 and 94%, respectively. Almost 100% recoveries for paclitaxel and baseline separation of 10-DAB III and co-extracted compounds were obtained when preliminary elution with 30% methanol was performed. This method can be applied as a routine, inexpensive and uncomplicated procedure for 10-DAB III and related taxoids determination in yew material.