Isolation of Artemisinin

Artemisinin is a chemical compound extracted from sweet wormwood bush, a Chinese plant. The chemical compound is also known by its Chinese name, qinghaosu. It has been used in China for thousands of years to treat various ailments. More recently artemisinin has been recognized by doctors and scientists as a highly effective treatment for malaria when used in combination with other drugs that also target malaria. Often used in third-world countries and in Asia, as of 2010 it is gaining acceptance in Europe and the United States.

Things You'll Need

• Artemisia annua plant
• N-hexane
• 4 ml 20 percent aqueous acetonitrile
• 7 g sodium chloride
• Chemistry flask
• Chemistry vacuum
• Column chromatograph with silica gel
• 25 ml 10 percent ethyl acetate in hexane
• 25 ml 15 percent ethyl acetate in hexane
• 25 ml 20 percent ethyl acetate in hexane

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Instructions

• 1

  Allow the leaves of the artemisia annua to dry between two pieces of paper for several days.

• 2

  Place dried artemisia leaves in a small percolating pot of n-hexane solution for 24 hours. Pour off the n-hexane and add 4 ml of 20 percent aqueous acetonitrile solution to the pot and leaves. Add 12 ml of n-hexane to the pot.

• 3

  Add 7 g of solid sodium chloride to evaporate any water. Add the solution and leaves to a chemistry flask. Attach the flask to a chemistry vacuum. Turn on the vacuum to evaporate the acetonitrile and other liquid. You will be left with a dark-brown solid clump of matter.

• 4

  Place the dark-brown solid in a column chromatograph with silica gel. Pour into the column 25 ml of 10 percent ethyl acetate in hexane, then 25 ml of 15 percent ethyl acetate in hexane and finally 25 ml of 20 percent ethyl acetate in hexane. Artemisinin will elute upon the 15 percent and 20 percent solutions.

• 5

  Place the solution from the 15 percent and 20 percent solutions into chemistry flasks and evaporate the ethyl acetate and hexane with a chemistry vacuum. This will produce a yellow-green solid of pure artemisinin.