Aim: To analyze the chemical components in Danggui (the roots of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diel).
Methods: HPLC-MS/MS was used to identify the main components in Danggui. Furthermore, the MS fragmentation regularity of the phthalides was proposed. The mobile phase of HPLC consisted of 0.5% acetic acid in water and 0.5% acetic acid in acetonitrile, analytical column was Hypersil ODS2 (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm), flow rate 1.0 mL x min(-1), injected volume 2 microL. The ionization source was ESI in positive ion mode.
Results: Ferulic acid, nine known phthalides and one unknown phthalide derivative were tentatively identified in chromatograms based on their MS data and the comparison of their UV spectra with those published in the literatures.
Conclusion: The structural information of phthalides was obtained via HPLC-MS/MS, which provides an accurate and fast method to identify the phthalides and provides more scientific information for quality control of Danggui.