Alkaloid purification using rosin-based polymer-bonded silica stationary phase in HPLC

Alkaloids are important natural products that exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. To efficiently separate and purify them, a rosin-based polymer-bonded silica stationary phase in high-performance liquid chromatography was synthesized via the surface radical polymerization of ethylene glycol maleic rosinate acrylate and methacrylic acid onto functionalized silica. The stationary phases, columns, optimization of chromatographic conditions for alkaloids, and thermodynamic behavior of the analytes on the column were fully studied. Under the optimized conditions, the prepared column efficiently purified natural camptothecine, caffeine, and evodiamine with the corresponding purities of 92, 96, and 97%. With this work, we have developed an efficient approach to isolate alkaloids and promoted the research on rosin-based materials in biomedicine and analytical chemistry.