ABSTRACT
Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is a form of liquid-liquid partition chromatography in which the stationary liquid phase is retained inside the column without solid support. The solvent systems used in this technique are mixtures of solvents that form a biphasic liquid system wherein one of the phases acts as stationary and the other as mobile. As most volatile compounds have strong hydrophobic properties, non-aqueous solvent systems are often used in the CCC purifications of essential oil compounds. Many solvent systems, including aqueous and non-aqueous systems, can be used in CCC in different elution modes. Strategies for using CCC in a rational and targeted manner to achieve the isolation and purification of economically or therapeutically important natural products from volatile oils are discussed. The obtention of pure compounds from essential oils is still a challenging task due to their low to medium polarity combined with their chemical similarity, rendering it difficult to isolate and purify them.
