Rapidly identify chemical constituents of Schisandra propinqua by UPLC-Q-Tof/MSE

Abstract

This study was to identify the chemical constituents of Schisandra propinqua, one herbal medicine of Yi nationality in China by using ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE). Acetonitrile- water containing 0.1% formic acid was used as the mobile phase for gradient elution. Data were collected under ESI negative mode and ESI positive mode, and then screened and verified by the software of UNIFI and Masslynx4.1. Based on the accurate mass, fragment ions, neutral losses, mass error, retention time, reference substance, isotope information, the intensity of fragments, as well as the previous reports, the known compounds were validated and identified. The chemical structures of the unknown components were identified according to exact molecular weight, MS fragment, chromatographic retention behavior, and characteristic fragments of known congener compounds. A total of 68 chemical components were identified from S. propinqua, including 3 flavonoids, 10 flavanols, 34 lignans compounds (including 20 dibenzocyclooctene lignans), 4 triterpenoids, 17 organic acid and other compounds. 37 compounds of them were found in S. propinqua for the first time, and one potential compound needed to be identified.