Rapid determination of ten polyphenols in Kudiezi injection using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring mode

Abstract

A simple and rapid method for simultaneous determination of ten polyphenols in Kudiezi injection has been developed and validated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The chromatographic separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.7 μm) with a gradient of acetonitrile and 0.5% formic acid (v/v). Ten polyphenols were rapidly analyzed within 10 minutes. Very low limits of detection (LODs) of 0.002–0.630 μg L⁻¹ and limits of quantitation (LOQs) of 0.005–2.930 μg L⁻¹ of the ten components were achieved. The linear calibration range extended from 2.73 to 660.40 μg L⁻¹. The developed method was validated in terms of good linearity (R² > 0.9990), precision (less than 3.71%) and accuracy (from 97.35 to 102.02%) for ten components. The developed UPLC-ESI-MS/MS method was simple and useful for rapid determination of the constituents in Kudiezi injection.