Coupling oligo-β-cyclodextrin on polyacrylate beads media for separation of puerarin

The isoflavonoid puerarin, a well-known bioactive constituent in traditional Chinese medicine, can be separated from other isoflavonoids in the extracts of Radix puerariae (root of the plant Pueraria lobata) on oligo-β-cyclodextrin ligand coupled to D152 beads. The parameters of coupling time, temperature, solvent system and molar ratio of reactants were tested to optimize the preparation conditions. Acetic acid (7%) was used as the optimum mobile phase. The fine particle sizes of the coupled microspheres packing displayed high resolving power and efficiency. Compared with other two polyacrylate carrier media, PGMA-CDP and PHEMA-CDP, various retention mechanisms such as β-CD inclusion complexation, hydrogen bond interaction, and π–π interaction might exist in the chromatography process. This study provides a novel alternative matrix for the separation of puerarin.