Simultaneous characterisation of fifty coumarins from the roots of Angelica dahurica by off-line two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry.

INTRODUCTION: The root of Angelica dahurica is a traditional Chinese medicine that used for the treatment of headache, toothache, abscess, furunculosis and acne. Coumarins were the major bioactive constituents of A. dahurica, hence it is worthwhile developing a method to simultaneously characterise them, especially those in trace amounts.
OBJECTIVE: To develop an efficient method for the simultaneous characterisation of coumarins in A. dahurica.
METHODS: A method using off-line two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (off-line 2D-HPLC-ESI/MS(n) ) was developed.
RESULTS: In total 50 coumarins, including 32 linear furanocoumarins, 16 bifuranocoumarins and two non-furanocoumarins, were identified from the roots of A. dahurica. The possible MS fragmentations of these coumarins are also proposed.
CONCLUSION: The method described here allows rapid and convenient identification of the coumarins in A. dahurica, and may be applied to other herbal medicines containing linear furanocoumarins.