Solid-phase extraction of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin from licorice using porous alkyl-pyridinium polymer sorbent

Introduction – Liquiritin and glycyrrhizin are valuable components of licorice. An effective separation and determination procedure is needed to separate the liquiritin and glycyrrhizin from the licorice extract. Methodology – A polymer‐confined, ionic liquid sorbent was developed using a process involving polymerisation and modification. The obtained porous particles were used as a sorbent in a solid‐phase extraction process to isolate liquiritin and glycyrrhizin from licorice with different washing and elution solvents. The porous alkyl‐pyridinium polymer sorbent was compared with the C₁₈ sorbent. Results – A simple and convenient method was established to the selectively separate and determinate of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin using a porous ionic liquid‐based polymer coupled with HPLC. Additionally, this study evaluated the application of this sorbent for the detection of these two compounds in commercial medicines. Conclusion – This method was a viable tool that was compatible with the existing HPLC methods and was used to separate and analyse the content of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin in licorice. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.