Separation and Purification of Three Main Lignans from the Anti-Inflammatory Extract of Lllicium Difengpi by High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography

Based on the principle of partition coefficient values (kappa) for target compounds and the separation factor (alpha) between target compounds, the optimal two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (1:0.3:1:0.2, v/v) was applied for the first time to isolate and purify three main lignans from the anti-inflammatory active extract of bark of Illicium difengpi. Using upper phase as the mobile phase in the head to tail elution model, magnolol (297.6 mg), difengpin (15.7 mg), and isodunnianol (17.5 mg), with the purities of more than 95%, were obtained from 800 mg of crude extract in a single operation. Additionally, their structures were identified by MS, H-1-NMR and C-13-NMR.