Ionic liquid-based aqueous two-phase system, a sample pretreatment procedure prior to high-performance liquid chromatography of opium alkaloids.

An ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4 mim]Cl)/salt aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) was presented as a simple, rapid and effective sample pretreatment technique coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for analysis of the major opium alkaloids in Pericarpium papaveris. To find optimal conditions, the partition behaviors of codeine and papaverine in ionic liquid/salt aqueous two-phase systems were investigated. Various factors were considered systematically, and the results indicated that both the pH value and the salting-out ability of salt had great influence on phase separation. The recoveries of codeine and papaverine were 90.0-100.2% and 99.3-102.0%, respectively, from aqueous samples of P. papaveris by the proposed method.