Separation of Five Quinolone Alkaloids from Fruits of Evodia rutaecarpa by High-speed Counter-current Chromatography

ObjectiveTo develop a suitable method for the large-scale separation of quinolone alkaloids from the fruits of Evodia rutaecarpa by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC).MethodsTwo solvent systems were developed for the separation method. The upper phase was used as the stationary phase, and the lower phase was used as the mobile phase at 35 °C with the flow rate of 2 mL/min and rotation speed of 855 r/min. Results Using the described method, 1-methyl-2-undecyl-4(1H)-quinolone (1), evocarpine (2), 1-methy-2-[(6Z,9Z)]-6,9-pentade-cadienyl-4-(1H)-quinolone (3), dihydroevocarpine (4), and the mixture (5) of 1-methyl-2-[(Z)-10-pentadecenyl]-4(1H)-quinolone (Va) and 1-methyl-2-[(Z)-6-pentadecenyl]-4(1H)-quinolone (Vb) could be isolated from a petroleum ether extract. They were identified by 1H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and MS/MS, and the purities were 94.3%, 95.2%, 96.8%, 98.3%, and 96.8%, respectively.ConclusionFive quinolone alkaloids from the fruits of E. rutaecarpa could be systematically isolated and purified using HSCCC. The presented method is simple and efficient with good potentials on the preparation of reference substances, especially on the quality control of Chinese materia medica.