Identification of Chemical Constituents of Euonymus alatus by UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has many advantages, such as high separating efficiency, good sensitivity and strong specifity, which is widely used for rapid separation and identification of chemical components in traditional Chinese medicines. Euonymus alatus is a Chinese medicinal herb, which has been used for thousands of years in China and the medicinal part is the branch wings of Euonymus. It is often used to treat diabetes, and it is commonly used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of malaria, gynecological diseases in recent years. As a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of diabetes, the active ingredients of Euonymus alatus are not clear. The chemical composition of Euonymus alatus can be obtained by extraction and separation, but this method has some limitations, such as trace chemical components are not easy to obtain, the time required is longer, the consumption of raw materials is more, etc. A method for combining UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS with known chemical composition databases of Euonymus alatus and summarizing the mass spectrometry cleavage rules of various compounds was established to identify multiple chemical components in Euonymus alatus. Firstly, according to the literature, a database of known compounds of Euonymus alatus was established, including names of compounds, relative molecular masses, fragment ions, molecular formulas, etc. Then, the law of mass spectrometry cleavage of different types of compounds was summarized, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, triterpenes, aliphatics, etc. Finally, the accuracy of the relative molecular mass, fragment ions, retention behaviors were compared with the database and the law of cracking was analyzed, so as to the structure of the compound was determined. A total of 65 components were identified, including 36 flavonoids, 4 phenolic acids, 7 triterpenes, 12 aliphatics, and 6 other components. 29 compounds were found for the first time in Euonymus alatus. This method is rapid and comprehensive for analysis of the chemical constituents of complicated herbal extracts.