In this work, a simple, reproducible and sensitive micellar electrokinetic chromatography method was developed for the separation and determination of three coumarins, imperatorin (IM), isoimperatorin (IO) and osthole (OS) from traditional Chinese medicine and human serum. Field-enhanced sample injection with reverse migrating micelles was used for on-line concentration of the coumarins. The optimum buffer contained 50 mM H(3)PO(4), 160 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, 20% acetonitrile and 15% 2-propanol, and the pH of buffer was 2.0. The sample solution was diluted with water containing 5 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and injected for 15 s with -8 kV after injection of 2 s water plug. The effects of concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate and organic modifier, the sample matrix, the injection time of water plug, the injection voltage and injection time of sample on the separation and stacking efficiency were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the analytes were well separated and by optimizing the stacking conditions, about 93, 195 and 136 fold improvement in the detection sensitivity was obtained for IM, IO and OS. The contents of three coumarins in Angelica dahurica Benth, Radix Angelicae Pubescentis and Fructus Cnidii were successfully determined with satisfactory repeatability and recovery. The possibilities of using this method for the determination of three coumarins in spiked human serum were also tested.
Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.