Preparative isolation and purification of coumarins from Angelica dahurica (Fisch. ex Hoffn) Benth, et Hook. f (Chinese traditional medicinal herb) by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

A preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method for isolation and purification of coumarins from Angelica dahurica (Fisch. ex Hoffin) Benth, et Hook. f(Baizhi in Chinese) was successfully established by using n-hexane-methanol-water as the two-phase solvent system in gradient elution mode. The upper phase of n-hexane-methanol-water (5:5:5, v/v) was used as the stationary phase of HSCCC. The mobile phase used in HSCCC was the lower phase of n-hexane-methanol-water (5:5:5, v/v) and n-hexane-methanol-water (5:7:3, v/v) that was changed in gradient. Three major components including imperatorin, isoimperatorin and oxypeucedanine were isolated, each at over 98% purity as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peak fractions of HSCCC were identified by 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR.