Strategies for supercritical fluid extraction of hyoscyamine and scopolamine salts using basified modifiers

The supercritical fluid extraction behaviors of hyoscyamine and scopolamine were investigated and found to be highly dependent upon the chemical natur e of the compounds. Free bases of hyoscyamine and scopolamine were freely s oluble in supercritical CO2 with increasing temperature and pressure; howev er, the salts of these alkaloids were not soluble under any experimental co nditions. It was found that alkaline modifiers such as methanol basified wi th diethylamine could enhance the solubilities and extraction yields of the se alkaloids from plant matrices as compared to other modifiers. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.