Separation of salidroside from Rhodiola crenulata by high-speed counter-current chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used to purify salidroside from an extract of Rhodiola crenulata with two steps using a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–n-butanol–water (1:4:5, v/v) in the first run and chloroform–methanol–isopropanol–water (5:6:1:4) in the second run. The method yielded 21.9 mg of salidroside from 1.216 g of the crude sample at 98% purity determined by HPLC analyses. Identification was performed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and MS.