Extraction and Separation of Natural Products - Natural Products Chemistry: Sources, Separations, and Structures - page 15

The exact mechanism by which charcoal interacts with solutes is not well under-
stood, however, it is often used to “decolorize” and remove impurities.

Flow Diagram Showing the Efficient Separation of a Small Peptide Using
Ion Exchange and Charcoal Chromatography from a Fermentation Broth

Fermentation broth (110 liters, adjusted to pH 7)

Filter
Filtrate

Adsorb onto BioRad AG 50X8 (H + ), 2 liters
Elute with 0.5 n NH 4 OH
Eluate (78.8 g)

Adsorb onto BioRad AG1X8 (HCO 3 - )
Elute with CO 2 - saturated water (carbonic acid ~ pH 4.5)
Eluate (3.4 g)

Lyophilize

Chromatograph on charcoal, 1 liter
Elute gradient of 0% to 20% aqueous MeOH
1.3 g pure compound
Sch37137 (Figure 2.3)

O

O

N

O

N

N

O

O

O

N

FIGURE 2.3 Structure of the antifungal compound, SCH37137. (From R. Cooper et al.,
1988, J Antibiot (Tokyo) 41(1):13 -19.)