Application of High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry with Thermospray Ionization to the Detection of Quassinoids Extracted from Quassia amara L

• Published in: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 691 - 693
• Main Authors: Vitányi, G., Bihátsi-Karsai, É., Lefler, J., Lelik, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-04-1997
• ISSN: 0951-4198; 1097-0231
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0231(199704)11:6<691::AID-RCM843>3.0.CO;2-B

Reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) with thermospray ionization has been developed to analyze seco‐triterpene lactone type quassinoids. Good results were obtained using an isocractic HPLC method with a mobile phase of acetonitrile + water (65:35 v/v%) and post‐column addition of 0.1% of 1 M ammonium acetate.
The mass spectrometer was operated in full‐scan mode, and positive‐ion thermospray ionization was employed. Mass spectra displayed protonated molecules, [M + H]+, and also [M + NH4]+ ions carrying the bulk of the ion current. Quantitative analysis was done by integrating the peak areas. The developed method is suitable for the separation and rapid screening of different quassinoids in crude bark and beverages. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.