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Decomposition products of the valepotriates are formed during the e1,ution process on columns using silica and alumina as stationary phase. Some of these decomposition products were identified as baldrinal and homobaldrinal and a new one, isovaltral, was found. the valepotriates were isolated by T H I E~ [ I 4 1 from some dried roots of Valeriana species and from Valeriana tinctures. The most important of these decomposition products are baldrinal and homobaldrinal, which are formed from valtratelacevaltrate respectively isovaltrate under the influence of acid andheat.

In this study valtrate and isovaltrate, two isomeric valepotriates present in various Valeriana species, were separated on a preparative scale with a Waters preparative Liquid Chromatography/500 A system. A rapid separation was achieved with the solvent methylene chloride-n-propanol-acetone (99 + 0.5 + 0.5). Extensive use of the recycle mode of the instrument resulted in a considerable reduction of the amount of solvent used, without affecting the purity and the recovery (greater than 90%) of the separated components. With the method presented in this communication 1 gram of a mixture of valtrate and isovaltrate was separated in 20 minutes using 2.1 liters of solvent.