Preparative isolation and purification of agarotetrol and 4′-methoxyagarotetrol from Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg by high-speed counter-current chromatography

AIM:To establish the method of separating 2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromone derivatives from agalwood by high-speed counter-current chromatography(HSCCC).METHODS:Chloroform-methanol-water(4:2.6:2.4,v/v/v) was used as the two-phase solvent system.The upper phase was used as the stationary phase,the revolution speed was 900 rpm and the flow rate was 1.2 mL/min.RESULTS:A preparative HSCCC method was successfully established for separating agarotetrol and 4′-methoxyagarotetrol from 95% ethanol extract of Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.)Gilg.Identification of two constituents was carried out according to its EI-MS、1H-NMR and 13C-NMR da-ta.The purity of agarotetrol and 4′-methoxyagarotetrol was 99.0%,as determined by HPLC.CONCLUSION:HSCCC is successfully used for the separation and purification of two main 2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromone derivatives which has similar structure from agalwood with ideal purity.