Purification of long-chain fatty acid ester of epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) was modified by catalytic esterification with hexadecanoyl chloride. A long-chain fatty acid ester derivative was obtained from the purification of this reaction product by high-speed counter-current chromatography using a solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (1:1:1:1, v/v). The structure of the derivative, epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate-4′-hexadecanate, was elucidated by IR, MS and 1H NMR.