How changes in column geometry and packing ratio can increase sample load and throughput by a factor of fifty in Counter-Current Chromatography

Abstract

This paper builds on the fact that high aspect ratio rectilinear tubing columns of the same length and outside dimensions can double column efficiency. It demonstrates that further improvements in efficiency can be made by using rectilinear tubing columns with half the wall thickness thus replacing heavy PTFE with light solvent systems and producing lighter higher capacity columns. Increases in sample loading/throughput of up to 55x are demonstrated by comparing the separation of Honokiol and Magnolol using a Hexane: Ethyl Acetate: Methanol: Water (5:2:5:2) phase system with the new thin wall rectilinear column (56 mL, 30 mL/min, 2.1 g/h in 6.5 min.) with the original optimization performed using a conventional DE-Mini column (18 mL, 0.8 mm bore circular PTFE tubing, 2.5 mL/min, 0.038 g/h in 45 min.). Honokiol is currently going through first phase clinical trials as an anti-lung cancer therapy where preparative countercurrent chromatography was used for its manufacture. To be competitive in the future it is important for the technology to become more efficient. This is the first big step in that direction.