{"title":"Targeted enrichment of bruceine D from Brucea javanica by molecularly imprinted nanomagnetic sorbents","authors":"Qilei Chen, Yueming Huang, Tiffany Wong, Guan‐Hua Huang, Yizhao Yang, Jianye Zhang, Hubiao Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.chmed.2025.07.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2025.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to develop and validate a novel method for targeted enrichment of bruceine compounds, whose structural complexity hinders both synthesis and conventional natural extraction. As a case study, bruceine D, a major antitumor component from Brucea javanica (Yadanzi in Chinese), was selected for enrichment using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) functionalized with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). A comprehensive chemical profiling of the B. javanica extract was performed to identify bruceine D and its structural analogues. MNPs coated with bruceine D-MIPs (MMIPs) were synthesized and characterized using various techniques, including transmission electron microscopy to observe the morphology, scanning electron microscopy to analyze the surface structure, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to confirm the successful functionalization of MIPs on MNPs. The adsorption performance of MMIPs was assessed through static and dynamic adsorption experiments . Subsequently, the process was validated for selectivity, repeatability, and reusability. The adsorption data were modeled using the Freundlich isotherm and kinetic models to reveal the adsorption mechanism. Among multiple analogues, bruceine D was confirmed as a major constituent of the B. javanica extract. The MMIPs demonstrated superior morphology, crystallinity, and functional surface modification, leading to favorable adsorption characteristics. Compared to non-imprinted polymers, they exhibited significantly stronger adsorption intensity and selectivity for bruceine D due to a lower Freundlich isotherm constant (0.041 8) and a higher imprinting factor (1.69). The MMIPs showed excellent repeatability with a low relative standard deviation (0.75%) and maintained high extraction efficacy across multiple cycles. The MMIPs successfully isolated bruceine D from B. javanica extract, achieving a remarkable recovery yield (39.50 µg/g). This study demonstrated a novel application of molecular imprinting technology targeting bruceine compounds. In particular, the MMIP-based selective enrichment of bruceine D from B. javanica showed superior efficiency, selectivity, and adsorption capacity compared to conventional methods. This advancement holds significant implications for natural product isolation, offering a sustainable and green strategy in the pharmaceutical industry for the isolation of complex bioactive compounds for therapeutic use.","PeriodicalId":503374,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Herbal Medicines","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147332736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}