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.

BACKGROUND

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.

CONCLUSIONS

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.