Rapid Determination of Illegally Added β-Receptor Blockers in Traditional Medicines and Dietary Supplements by DCBI-MS Method

A new rapid method was developed by coupling desorption corona beam ionization to ion trap mass spectrometer(DCBI-MS). Seven beta-receptor blockers, i. e., atenolol, bisoprolol, metoprolol, propranolol, celiprolol hydrochloride, bevantolol hydrochloride and carvedilol that used be added illegally in antihypertensive traditional medicines and dietary supplements were detected. MS1 and MS2 spectra of the sample were employed for rapid screening and semi-quantitation of the target compound. Each aliquot was analyzed in 1 min. The limit of quantification(LOD) of analytes were all less than 0. 1 mg/L and the dynamic linear range was 0. 5-100 mg/L. The qualitative and semi-quantitative results were confirmed with the traditional HPLC-MS. With the proposed DCBI-MS method, one of 9 real samples was detected to contain the illicit additive of carvedilol. Both in quality control and illicit additive screening of the beta-receptor blockers, the DCBI-MS technique can be a powerful tool due to its convenience and specificity.