Separating and purifying of Panax notoginseng saponins using a rosin-based polymer-bonded with silica as a high-performance liquid chromatography stationary phase

In this study, methyl methacrylate and fumaropimaric acid tris (ethylene glycol) ester were used as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively, to prepare a rosin-based polymer-bonded with silica as a high-performance liquid chromatography stationary phase via a coating–bonding method. The produced stationary phase was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and microporous physical adsorption, and the specific surface area and particle size distribution were calculated. The results showed that the stationary phase particles have good sphericity, having a particle size of approximately 4.81 µm, specific surface area of 280 m2·g−1, and average pore diameter of 6.76 nm, and were nontoxic. Further, column evaluation revealed that the produced stationary phase exhibited typical reversed-phase chromatographic behavior, hydrophobicity, good reproducibility and strong steric selectivity. Thus, the resin was used for separating and purifying Panax notoginseng saponins, and the effects of the chromatographic conditions on separating Panax notoginseng saponins were investigated; moreover, the thermodynamic parameters of column separation were studied. Finally, Panax notoginseng saponins purification using the new stationary phase resulted an increase in purity from 45.27% to 85.08%.