Process for the isolation and purification of taxol and taxanes from Taxus using methanol or acetone
AssigneeBoard of Trustees operating Michigan State University
InventorMuraleedharan G. Nair
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for the separation of taxanes, particularly taxol, cephalomannine, baccatin III and deacetylbaccatin III, from ornamental yew tissue is described. The process involves a specific solvent mixture of water and 50 to 95 percent by volume methanol, ethanol or acetone and treatment of the resulting extract using activated carbon, preferably charcoal. The taxanes are preferably separated from the crude extract by a normal phase chromatographic step which preferably is through vacuum and then medium pressure column chromatographic separation, using inexpensive silica gel as an absorbent. The silica gel is regenerated by heating in a furnace above about 500.degree. C. to remove adsorbed organic materials.
Claims19
A method for extracting and separating taxanes including taxol from plant material of the genus Taxus which comprises:
- (a) mixing fresh clippings of the plant material with an extracting solvent mixture consisting essentially of between about 50% and 80% of an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of acetone and methanol in water mixture by volume so as to extract a crude taxane mixture in the extracting solvent mixture;
- (b) decolorizing the crude taxane mixture in the solvent mixture with charcoal;
- (c) removing at least the acetone or methanol from the solvent, mixture containing the crude taxane mixture;
- (d) extracting the crude taxane mixture in a normal phase chromatographic solvent containing ethyl acetate;
- (e) chromatographically separating the taxanes in the chromatographic solvent mixture on a normal phase chromatographic column containing silica gel as an absorbent for the crude taxane at a pressure which provides the separation between about 1 mm of mercury and 100 psi;
- (f) separating the taxanes from the chromatographic solvent mixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.