Separation of andrographolide and neoandrographolide from the leaves of Andrographis paniculata using high-speed counter-current chromatography.

The bioactive diterpenes andrographolide and neoandrographolide from the leaves of Andrographis paniculata NEES (Acanthaceae) were successfully separated by counter-current chromatography. A single 280-min separation yielded 189 mg of 99.9% andrographolide and 9.5 mg of 98.5% neoandrographolide applying water-methanol-ethyl acetate-n-hexane (2.5:2.5:4:1) solvent system. Structure confirmation was done by electrospray MS, one-dimensional NMR experiments, circular dichroism, optical rotation dispersion, and specific optical rotation [alpha]D.