Discrimination and Chemical Phylogenetic Study of Four Pulsatilla Herbs Using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS Combined with Hierarchical Cluster Analysis.

A tissue-smashing based ultra-rapid extraction coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to determine 10 major triterpenoid saponins from Pulsatilla herbs. Compound 4 was characterized as betulinic acid glycoside 3-O-α-arabinopyranosyl-28-O-ß-glucopyranosyl-23-hydroxy with HR-ESI-MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR experiment. The MS spectra result showed that the ionization of compound 4 was more efficient in the positive mode. Meanwhile, the ions at m/z 789.6 and m/z 627.5 were selected as precursor and product ion for the determination, respectively. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a Phenomenex Kinetex C18 column using a gradient mobile phase system composed of 0.1% formic acid both in methanol and water at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The detection was performed by multiple reaction monitoring mode, using electrospray ionization in the positive and negative mode. The total run time was 6 min. The calibration curves possessed good linearity with all coefficients higher than 0.9987. The intra- and interday precisions were no more than 4.9%, and the average recoveries were from 97.6% to 103.4% with RSD <4.7%. Moreover, hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to compare and discriminate the Pulsatilla herbs based on the quantitative data. The hierarchical cluster analysis results demonstrated that Pulsatilla chinensis, Pulsatilla cernua, Pulsatilla dahurica, Pulsatilla turczainovii samples could be easily discriminated from each other based on the contents of triterpenoid saponins and the established method is feasible for quality control of Pulsatilla herbs.

[Simultaneous quantification of 7 coumarins in common cnidium fruit by GC-MS].

A GC-MS-SIM method was developed for the simultaneous determination of the 7 coumarins in common cnidium fruit. The 7 bioactive constituents were separated on DB-1 capillary column（30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 µm） using temperature programming. The interface temperature was set at 280 ℃; Ion source temperature: 250 ℃; Quadrupole temperature: 150 ℃; EI mode: 70 e V; The mass spectrometer detector was in SIM mode; Scan range: 50-350 amu. All the 7 marker substances showed good linearity（r(2) > 0.998 6） in the test ranges. The LODs and LOQs for the compounds ranged from 1.06 to 10.11 ng·mL(-1) and from 3.21 to 29.88 ng·m L(-1), respectively. The overall intra-day（n = 6） and inter-day（n = 3） RSDs were 0.7%-2.5% and 1.2%-3.3%, respectively. The overall recoveries were between 92.38% and 100.50% for all compounds. This method was simple, rapid, sensitive, with good specificity, and it can provide a reference for the quality control of common cnidium fruit.

[Determination of 14 components in Bazibushen capsule by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS].

The study developed a method for the determination of 14 components in Bazibushen capsule by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Waters ACQUITY BEH C(18) column (50 mm × 2.1 mm,1.7 µm) was used and the column temperature was 40 ℃.A linear gradient elution of eluents A (acetonitrile) and B（0.1% acetic acid） was used for the separation. The source temperature was set at 150 ℃.The capillary voltage was set at 2.0 k V. The source offset voltage was kept at 50 V. The desolvation temperature was set at 500 ℃.The desolvation flow was 800 L·h(-1).The cone flow was 150 L·h(-1). The nebuliser pressure was 7.0 Bar . Multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) is adopted. All of the 14 components showed good linearity (r2 > 0.999 1) in the test ranges. The LOQs for the compounds ranged from 0.11-4.52 ng·m L(-1), respectively.The RSDs were 0.8%-2.1%.The overall recoveries were between 97.89% and 101.9% for all compounds. The method is simple, rapid, accurate and highly reproducible, and may be used in the determination of 14 components in Bazibushen capsule.

[Rapid identification 15 effective components of anti common cold medicine with MRM by LC-MS/MS].

This paper reports the establishment of a method for rapid identification 15 effective components of anti common cold medicine (paracetamol, aminophenazone, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, methylephedrine hydrochloride, caffeine, amantadine hydrochloride, phenazone, guaifenesin, chlorphenamine maleate, dextromethorphen hydrobromide, diphenhydramine hydrochloride, promethazine hydrochloride, propyphenazone, benorilate and diclofenac sodium) with MRM by LC-MS/MS. The samples were extracted by methanol and were separated from a Altantis T3 column within 15 min with a gradient of acetonitrile-ammonium acetate (containing 0.25% glacial acetic acid), a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray ionization source (ESI) was used in positive ion mode, and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was performed for qualitative analysis of these compounds. The minimum detectable quantity were 0.33-2.5 microg x kg(-1) of the 15 compounds. The method is simple, accurate and with good reproducibility for rapid identification many components in the same chromatographic condition, and provides a reference for qualitative analysis illegally added chemicals in anti common cold medicine.