The Facile Reversed‐Phase HPLC Resolution of Tetrahydrofurofuran Nucleus Lignans in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Quantitative Analysis of Asarinin and Sesamin in <i>Asari</i> Radix

Abstract

Abstract Eight tetrahydrofurofuran nucleus lignans: syringaresinol, epi ‐syringaresinol, lirioresinol‐B dimethyl ether, xanthoxylol, phillygenin, fargesin, sesamin and asarinin are separated on a C 18 column in the reversed‐phase mode. These lignans are plant products formed primarily by the carbon‐carbon coupling of derivatives of cinnamyl alcohol units, in which the two units may be linked by an oxygen bridge to form a tetrahydrofurofuran nucleus and are found to be highly similar in structure. However, these lignans can be baseline resolved under gradient elution in less than 25 minutes. The resolution also can be optimized through altering the flow rate in an isocratic elution. This method is proven to be facile and reliable in routine quantitative analysis of ingredients such as asarinin and sesamin in traditional Chinese medicine Asarum sieboldii . The corresponding recoveries (%) were found to be 95.65 and 96.14, respectively.