SEPARATION OF ALKALOIDS FROM DATURA-METE L AND SOPHORA-FLAVESCENS AIT BY HIGH-SPEED COUNTERCURRENT CHROMATOGRAPHY

High-speed countercurrent chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from two medicinal herbs. Matrine and oxymatrine were isolated from the root of Sophora flavescens Ait with a two-phase solvent system composed of chloroform-0.07 M sodium phosphate (pH 6.4), while atropine and scopolamine were purified from the flowers of Datura mete L. with a similar solvent system by modifying the phosphate buffer pH at 6.5. Identification of each alkaloid was made by either TLC or paper partition chromatography using authentic pure compounds. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.