Preparation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural from Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill by high‐speed counter‐current chromatography: Comparison of conventional and consecutive separation

Abstract Schisandra chinensis is a plant with high medicinal value, which contains many medicinal ingredients, including 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural. In the present study, an efficient method based on high‐speed counter‐current chromatography was established for the preparation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural from Schisandra chinensis . Petroleum ether–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (2:5:2:5, v/v) was selected as the solvent system for high‐speed counter‐current chromatography. In order to improve the yield of single separation, the sample size was continuously optimized and improved. The results showed that 1,250 mg was the most suitable sample size, and 41 mg of the target compound with 97% purity was obtained in a single run. To further improve the yield, consecutive high‐speed counter‐current chromatography was introduced and compared with the results of a high‐speed counter‐current chromatography single run. The results showed that although the purity was reduced to 92%, 430 mg of the target compound was obtained from 12.5 g of ethanol extract within 670 min after 10 consecutive injections. This indicated that consecutive separation not only increased the yield of the target compound, but also saved the separation time and greatly improved the separation efficiency of high‐speed counter‐current chromatography.