Use of counter-current chromatography as a selective extractor for the diterpenequinone 7α-hydroxyroyleanone from Tetradenia riparia.

A solvent system was developed for selective isolation by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) of the benzoquinone 7α-hydroxyroileanone, 1, a bioactive diterpene from a dichloromethane extract of Tetradenia riparia leaves. Several solvent systems were initially studied, including hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water in several ratios, hexane-acetone-methanol-water, hexane-ethanol-water and hexane-acetonitrile-methanol, which gave recovery rates for the target compound between 13.4 and 35.