Ultrasonic-Assisted Ionic Liquid Extraction of Two Biflavonoids from Selaginella tamariscina

Selaginella tamariscina, a traditional Chinese medicine, contains a variety of bioactive components, among which biflavonoids are the main active ingredients and have antioxidant, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, ultrasonic-assisted ionic liquid extraction (UAILE) is used for the first time to extract two main biflavonoids (amentoflavone (AME) and hinokiflavone (HIN)) from S. tamariscina. A high-performance liquid chromatography method is used for the simultaneous determination of AME and HIN in S. tamariscina. Then, three novel ILs are synthesized for the first time by a one-step method using benzoxazole and three acids or acid salts as raw materials, and the structures of the synthesized ILs are characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy, as well as the thermal stability of the ILs is evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis. After screening the extraction effects of three benzoxazole ILs, three pyridine ILs, and three imidazole ILs, it is found that [Bpy]BF₄ is the best and therefore selected as the extractant. The optimal extraction process is explored in terms of the yields of AME and HIN from S. tamariscina by a single-factor experiments and response surface analysis. Under the optimal level of each influencing factor (IL concentration of 0.15 mol/L, solid-liquid ratio of 1:12 g/mL, ultrasonic power of 280 W, ultrasonic time of 30 min, and three extraction cycles), the extraction rates of AME and HIN from S. tamariscina are 13.51 and 6.74 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, the recovery experiment of [Bpy]BF₄ on the extraction of biflavonoids shows that the recovered IL can repeatedly extract targets six times and the extraction rate is about 90%, which indicates that the IL can be effectively reused. UAILE can effectively and selectively extract AME and HIN, laying the foundation for the application of S. tamariscina.