Mji. Mattina et Gj. Maceachern, EXTRACTION, PURIFICATION BY SOLID-PHASE EXTRACTION AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF TAXANES FROM ORNAMENTAL TAXUS NEEDLES, Journal of chromatography, 679(2), 1994, pp. 269-275
Needles from ornamental yews (Taxus spp.) are known to contain signifi
cant amounts of the anticancer agent Taxol (paclitaxel), as well as ot
her analogous taxane compounds. Methanol extracts the taxanes from the
needles efficiently, but the crude methanolic extract contains large
amounts of co-extractives in addition to the taxanes of interest. The
crude extract may be fractionally partitioned using C-18 solid-phase e
xtraction (SPE), permitting the collection of a fraction in which the
taxanes elute quantitatively. This fraction can then be analyzed direc
tly by means of high-performance liquid chromatography. We have succes
sfully scaled-up the quantity of crude extract partitioned by means of
the SPE technique, using larger SPE cartridges prepared in our labora
tory as well as using Empore extraction disks. SPE using the Empore di
sks permits us to collect large quantities of the taxane fraction for
studies on its cytostatic effect on non-mammalian eukaryotic cells.