Separation and identification of water-soluble salvianolic acids from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge by high-speed counter-current chromatography and ESI-MS analysis

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) technique in semi-preparative scale has been applied to separate and purify salvianolic acids from the water extract of Danshen, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. High efficiency HSCCC separation was achieved on a two-phase solvent system composed of a mixture of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–water–methanol (1.5:5:5:1.5, v/v) by eluting the lower mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1.7 ml/min and a revolution of 850 rpm. A total of five well separated peaks were obtained in the HSCCC chromatogram, and their purities determined by HPLC-UV absorption. These peaks were characterized by UV–vis spectra and ESI-MS, and the data compared with the reference standards. Salvianolic acid B was positively identified as one of the major peaks. Three of the remaining four peaks were also tentatively identified as rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid, and salvianolic acid E, an isomer of salvianolic acid B, all are members of the salvianolic acids group. In a typical run, tens of milligrams of samples can be separated with high efficiency to yield tens of milligrams of purified materials with over 98% purity. HSCCC thus provides a cost-effective alternative to preparative scale HPLC for the semi-preparative scale separation and purification of salvianolic acids in Danshen. With appropriate modifications, the technique should also be applicable to other herbs in general.