Eutectic Thin-Layer Chromatography as a New Possibility for Quantification of Plant Extracts-A Case Study.

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Chromatography

Background:

• Deep eutectic solvents (DES) offer unique properties like enhanced solubility and specific phase interactions.
• These characteristics make DES promising for chromatographic separations, especially for complex samples.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the first quantitative analysis using eutectic thin-layer chromatography (TLC).
• To develop and validate a novel chromatographic system for separating alkaloids from Chelidonium maius.

Main Methods:

• Investigated various terpene-based DESs, pure and diluted, for chromatographic system development.
• Employed a novel approach of mixing DESs with differing properties to adjust polarity.
• Optimized the system using a 2:1 (wt/wt) mixture of camphor + phenol and menthol + limonene DESs with 20% methanol.

Main Results:

• Successfully developed a quantitative eutectic TLC system.
• The optimized system effectively separated five alkaloids from Chelidonium maius.
• Validated the system on a real plant sample, demonstrating its applicability.

Conclusions:

• The developed eutectic TLC system is the first applicable and operational quantitative system of its kind.
• Mixing DESs is an effective strategy for tuning chromatographic properties.
• This approach advances the application of DES in quantitative chromatographic analysis.