Rapid chemome profiling of chemical components of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos using DI-MS/MS~(ALL)

Abstract

A new method of MS/MS~(ALL) was designed to sequentially record a MS~2 spectrum at each unit mass window through gas phase fractionation concept, so as to offer an opportunity for universal MS~2 spectral recording with direct infusion(DI). As a proof-of-concept, DI-MS/MS~(ALL) was applied for rapid chemome profiling of a famous herbal medicine named Lonicerae Japonicae Flos. After each MS~2 spectrum was correlated to its precursor ion, the structural annotation was conducted by applying well-defined mass cracking rules, matching the mass spectral data with literatures and referring to those accessible databases. As a result, a total of 54 components were identified from Lonicerae Japonicae Flos extract, including 21 phenolic acids, 13 flavonoids, 12 iridoids, 4 triterpenoids and 4 other compounds. Therefore, DI-MS/MS~(ALL) is a powerful tool for comprehensive, rapid qualitative analysis of chemical profiles of traditional Chinese medicine and other chemical components of complex systems.