Int. J. Chem. Technol. 2019, 3 (1), 72-76 Akşit and co-workers DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.32571/ijct.577183 E-ISSN:2602-277X 72 International Journal of Chemistry and Technology http://dergipark.org.tr/ijct Short Communication Rapid isolation of rosmarinic acid from Ocimum basilicum using flash chromatography Hüseyin AKŞİT 1, *, Mehmet KEÇECİ 2 , İbrahim DEMİRTAŞ 3 , Nusret GENÇ 2 1 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, 24250, Erzincan, Turkey. 2 Department of Chemistry,. Faculty of Science and Art, Gaziosmanpaşa University, 60100, Tokat, Turkey 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Çankırı Karatekin University, 18400, Çankırı, Turkey Received: 12 June 2019; Revised: 26 June 2019; Accepted: 27 June 2019 * Corresponding author e-mail: huseyinaksit@gmail.com Citation: Akşit, H.; Keçeci, M.;.Demirtaş, İ.; Genç, N. Int. J. Chem. Technol. 2019, 3 (1), 72-76. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ABSTRACT In this study; it was aimed at the isolation of rosmarinic acid (RosA) from Ocimum basilicum (OB) with a selective extraction and rapid isolation technique using flash chromatography (FC). For this purpose, dried leaves of OB were extracted with n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol, respectively. The methanol extract (ME) was extracted with dichloromethane and ethyl acetate using separation funnel by suspending with water. The ethyl acetate layer was dried with anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 and the solvent was evaporated to give a rosmarinic acid-rich extract. Then the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) was separated over silica gel column using FC, and thus RosA was isolated with high purity. Keywords: Rosmarinic acid, flash chromatography, Ocimum basilicum. Flash kromatografi kullanarak Reyhan bitkisinden rozmarinik asitin hızlı izolasyonu ÖZ Bu çalışmada, Reyhan bitkisinden (Ocimum basilicum) seçici bir ekstraksiyon ve hızlı izolasyon tekniği ile flash kromatografi kullanılarak rozmarinik asitin izolasyonu amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla; kurutulmuş reyhan yaprakları sırası ile hekzan, diklorometan ve methanol ile ekstrakte edildi. Methanol ekstraktı su ile çözülerek ayırma hunisinde diklormetan etil asetat ile ekstrakte edildi. Etil asetat fazı susuz Na 2 SO 4 ile kurutuldu ve rosmarik asitçe zengin ekstrakt vermek üzere çözücü evapore edildi. Daha sonra, etil asetat ekstraktı flash kromatografi kullanarak silica jel ile ayrıma tabi tutuldu ve böylece rozmarinik asit yüksek saflıkta elde edildi. Anahtar Kelimeler: Rozmarinik asit, flash kromatografi, Reyhan bitkisi. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION Natural products play an important role for drug discovery and development process due to their bioactive contents. 1-8 Ocimum basilicum belongs to the Lamiaceae family known to be rich sources of polyphenolic compounds, particularly phenolics acids. 9 The plant extensively includes substances that high antioxidant activity due to the content of phenolic acids especially rosmarinic acid as a major constituent. 10 RosA is an ester of caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid and is a widely occurring natural antioxidant in many plant kingdom with interesting biological activities e.g. antitumor, 11 antidiabetic, 12 antioxidant, 13 antiproliferative, 14,15 antiviral and anti-inflammatory. 16 Antioxidants were called as bioactive substances that prevent the formation of free radicals or neutralize free radicals in living organisms. 17,18 To prevent oxidative degradation of food, synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and tertbutylhydroquinone (TBHQ) are widely used in the food industry, but BHA and BHT are suspected of being responsible for liver damage and carcinogenesis. 19 Therefore, the development and utilization of more effective antioxidants from the natural origin are desired.