High purity phosphatidylinositol from natural source useful for treating central nervous system disorder and its preparation

PURPOSE: To obtain a compound having excellent anti-depressive activity efficiently by treating a crude substance containing phosphatidyl inositol under specific conditions with protecting the hydroxy group of the inositol therein. CONSTITUTION: In the preparation of the high purity phosphatidyl inositol useful for the treatment of the central nervous system disorders, plant derived raw materials containing ≥10 wt.% phosphatidyl inositol (e.g. soyabean lecithin, etc.), are treated with reagents such as dimethyl-t-butylsilyl chloride, etc., which give protecting groups to the inositol hydroxy group, and the protected phosphatidyl inositol is separated by solvent extraction with a mixed solvent of ethyl alcohol and acetone, etc., or by chromatography utilizing silica gel, then the objective compound is obtained by removing the protecting groups under conditions which do not modify the phosphatidyl group. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO