Carotenoid standards, from HPLC

Although saponification was found to be unnecessary for the separation and quantification of carotenoids from leafy vegetables by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or open column chromatography (OCC), saponification is usually employed to clean the extract when subsequent purification steps are required such as for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and production of standards from natural sources. 

Fig. 2.16. HPLC profile of carotenoids in an extract of vegetable soup. An expansion of the profile from 30 to 39 is shown in the inset (A). Monitored wavelengths were 436, 440, 464, and 409 nm for peaks 9,10,11,12, and 14, respectively, in the inset (A). Peak identification 1 + 1" = all-trans-lutein and cw-lutein 2 = 5,6-dihydroxy-5,6-dihydrolycopene (lycopene-5,6-diol) 3 = j3-apo-8 -carotenal (internal standard) 4 = lycopene 1,2-epoxide 5 = lycopene 5,6-epoxide 6 = 1,2-dimethoxyproly-copene (tentative identification) 7 = 5,6-dimethoxy-5,6-dihydrolycopene 8 = lycopene 9 = pheo-phytin b 10 = neurosporene 11 = (-carotene 12 = pheophytin a 13 = (-carotene 14 = pheophytin a isomer and (-carotene 15 = a-carotene 16 and 16" = all-trans-/fcarotene, cis-/J-carotene 17 and 17" = all-trans- or cA-phytofluene 18 and 18" = all-trans- or cw-phytoene. Reprinted with permisson from L. H. Tonucci et al. [40].

HPLC is commonly used to separate and quantify carotenoids using C18 and, more efficiently, on C30 stationary phases, which led to superior separations and improved peak shape.32 4046 An isocratic reversed-phase HPLC method for routine analysis of carotenoids was developed using the mobile phase composed of either methanol acetonitrile methylene chloride water (50 30 15 5 v/v/v/v)82 or methanol acetonitrile tetrahydrofuran (75 20 5 v/v/v).45 This method was achieved within 30 minutes, whereas gradient methods for the separation of carotenoids can be more than 60 minutes. Normal-phase HPLC has also been used for carotenoid analyses using P-cyclobond46 and silica stationary phases.94 The reversed-phase methods employing C18 and C30 stationary phases achieved better separation of individual isomers. The di-isomers of lycopene, lutein, and P-carotene are often identified by comparing their spectral characteristic Q ratios and/or the relative retention times of the individual isomers obtained from iodine/heat-isomerized lycopene solutions.16 34 46 70 74 101 However, these methods alone cannot be used for the identification of numerous carotenoids isomers that co-elute (e.g., 13-ds lycopene and 15-cis lycopene). In the case of compounds whose standards are not available, additional techniques such as MS and NMR are required for complete structural elucidation and validation. 

The organometallic reactions of interest for the synthesis of carotenoids are usually conducted in an inert atmosphere under anhydrous conditions with standard laboratory equipment. It is recommended that the progress of a reaction is monitored routinely by the common spectroscopic (e.g. UV/Vis) and chromatographic e.g. TLC, HPLC) methods. The procedure used for the work-up of the reaction mixture depends on the type of reaction being performed. For condensation reactions, protonation by dilute acids or saturated ammonium chloride is frequently used, whilst for coupling reactions water quenching is sufficient. The mixture is then extracted into an appropriate solvent, the choice of which depends on the solubility of the product. Common solvents include ether, ethyl acetate, hexane, and dichloromethane. Because the yields obtained from most reactions are not quantitative, purification of the product is usually necessary and can become the most time-consuming part of the synthetic operation. Methods of purification are discussed in Vol. 1A of this series. 

In most published HPLC techniques reversed-phase columns have been employed, i.e., silica esterified with a long-chain alcohol, usually octadecanol. Hajibrabim et al. (1978), among others, employed normal phase resins successfully for the separation of porphyrins, chlorines and carotenoids from ancient sediments. Stationary phases with 5 or 3 pm grain size and standard columns of 250 x 4.6 mm have been used successfully. Separation with capillary columns greatly reduces solvent consumption without affecting separation efficiency. 

Alternatively, it is possible to inject the solvent extract directly for HPLC analysis. For good quantitation this method requires an internal standard or very careful measurement of liquid volumes. McClean et al. (69) and Nierenberg and Lester (70) used acetonitrile to denature plasma proteins and then solubilized retinol with ethyl acetate 1-butanol (1 1) for direct injection Siddiqui et al. precipitated proteins from serum by addition of acetonitrile, centrifuged, and then injected the supernatant (71). Retinoids and carotenoids can be efficiently extracted from one volume of serum or plasma with three volumes of 2-propanol dichloromethane (2 1) followed by centrifugation an aliquot can be directly analyzed by HPLC (72,73). The risks of sample loss and degradation during processing can thus be avoided. 

Figure 4 Reversed-phase HPLC elution profiles of tocopherols (panel A), retinoids (B), and carotenoids (C) present in human plasma (200 pL). Blood was collected 3 h after an oral dose of retinoic acid. The chromatogram was obtained by use of gradient elution (Table 3). Peak identification 2, 4-oxo-retinoic acid 4, retinoyl P-glucuronide 7, retinoic acid 8, retinol 9, retinyl acetate (internal standard) 15, butylated hydroxy toluene 16, y-tocopherol 17, a-tocopherol 18, free bilirubin 19, lutein 20, zeaxanthin 21, 2, 3 -anhydrolutein 22, P-cryptoxanthin 23, lycopene 24, a-carotene 25, P-carotene. (From Ref. 73.)...

---