Preparative isolation and purification of triterpene saponins from Clematis mandshurica by high-speed counter-current chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection.

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) was successfully applied to the isolation and purification of four triterpene saponins from Clematis mandshurica by one-step separation. The solvent system was composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-ethanol-0.05% TFA (5:10:2:20, v/v). The purities of all the saponins obtained were better than 97%. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by the means of spectroscopic methods.