Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the rapid analysis of constituents in the traditional Chinese medicine formula Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill.

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method in both positive and negative ion modes was established in order to comprehensively investigate the major constituents in Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill. Briefly, a Waters ACQUITY UPLC HSS C18 column was used to separate the aqueous extract of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill. A total of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid v/v were used as the mobile phase. All analytes were determined using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization source in positive and negative ion modes. At length, a total of 173 components including flavones and their glycosides, monoterpene glycosides, triterpene saponins, phenethylalchohol glycosides, iridoid glycosides, phthalides, tanshinones, phenolic acids, sesquiterpenoids and cyclopeptides were identified or tentatively characterized in Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill in an analysis of 16.0 min based on the accurate mass and tandem mass spectrometry behaviors. The developed method is rapid and highly sensitive to characterize the chemical constituents of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill, which could not only be used for chemical standardization and quality control of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill, but also be helpful for further study in vivo metabolism of Wu Ji Bai Feng Pill.