title: Alkaloid profiling of the traditional Chinese medicine Rhizoma corydalis using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
abstract: Since alkaloids are the major active constituents of Rhizoma corydalis (RC), a convenient and accurate analytical method is needed for their identification and characterization. Here we report a method to profile the alkaloids in RC based on liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). A total of 16 alkaloids belonging to four different classes were identified by comparison with authentic standards. The fragmentation pathway of each class of alkaloid was clarified and their differences were elucidated. Furthermore, based on an analysis of fragmentation pathways and alkaloid profiling, a rapid and accurate method for the identification of unknown alkaloids in RC is proposed. The method could also be useful for the quality control of RC.
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of TCM Pharmacology, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Mingqian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of TCM Pharmacology, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of TCM Pharmacology, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Chengren
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of TCM Pharmacology, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of TCM Pharmacology, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
keywords: Alkaloid; Fragmentation pathway; LC–Q-TOF-MS/MS; Rhizoma corydalis