Cyclodextrin-modified capillary electrophoresis for achiral and chiral separation of ergostane and lanostane compounds extracted from the fruiting body of Antrodia camphorata

A CD-modified capillary electrophoretic method has been developed for achiral and chiral analysis of seven bioactive compounds isolated from the fruiting body of Antrodia camphorata. Such important target analytes exhibit similar chemical structures and are known for their diverse properties including antioxidant and anticancer effects. The analytes were separated in 25 min using a pH 9.3, 20 mM sodium borate buffer containing 20 mM methyl-β-CD and 30 mM sulfobutylether-β-CD. With the exception of the optical isomer pairs (antcin B or zhankuic acid A, zhankuic acid C, and antcin A), the remaining bioactive compounds including the chiral pair antcin C were baseline-separated. Analysis time was noticeably longer to baseline separate all of the above chiral pairs (~38 min) by adding 5% DMF to the running buffer. The migration order was reversed compared with the HPLC elution. More hydrophobic compounds complexed favorably with methyl-β-CD and emerged earlier in the electropherogram than their more hydrophilic counterparts which were strongly associated with sulfobutylether-β-CD. The simple capillary electrophoretic method developed was applicable for rapid separation and characterization of several important bioactive compounds isolated from the fruiting body of A. camphorata.