title: Rapid screening and identification of caffeic acid and its esters in Erigeron breviscapus by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Caffeic acid and its esters (CAEs) are widely distributed in the plant kingdom and have been reported to elicit a wide range of exceptional biological activities. Present methods for screening and characterization of CAEs normally need the use of liquid chromatography diode-array detection/multistage mass spectrometry (LC-DAD/MS(n)). In this report, a rapid and efficient method coupling ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) with fragment-targeted multi-reaction monitoring (MRM) has been developed for screening CAEs in a crude extract of Erigeron breviscapus, while a UPLC/quasi-MS(n) method has been applied in the structural identification of these compounds. Furthermore, a simple quasi-UPLC/MS/MS method based on in-source collision-induced dissociation (CID) has been proposed for rapid identification of the CAEs. As a result, a total of more than 34 CAEs were detected and their structures characterized. Nine of them were reported from E. breviscapus for the first time. Applications of these strategies in the chemical investigation of an injection of E. breviscapus resulted in the identifications of 16 CAEs. These strategies, if appropriate modifications are made, will be very useful in screening and characterization not only of CAEs, but of other structural types of compounds in various complex matrices.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Guiyang Medical College, 9 Beijing Road, Guiyang, Guizhou 550004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shang-Gao
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Li-Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cui-Bing
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan-Yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Ai-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.forename: Xiao-Zhong
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiao-Lan
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Zhi-Zhong
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Yong-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002109:Caffeic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D049919:Erigeron / Q000737:chemistry*; D004952:Esters / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002109:Caffeic Acids; D004952:Esters; D010936:Plant Extracts