Identification of coumarins in traditional Chinese medicine by direct-injection electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple and rapid method has been developed for the identification of coumarins in the crude extract of traditional Chinese medicine by direct-injection electrospray ionisation (ESI) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In this study, osthole (OS) were evaluated directly in the extract of Angelica dahurica Benth, Radix Angelicae pubescentis, and Fructus cnidii using this method. Imperatorin (IM) and its isomers isoimperatorins (IO) were detected in the three traditional Chinese medicines by direct injection ESI/MS/MS and confirmed by HPLC-ESI/MS. Our experimental data reveal that ESI/MS/MS is a sensitive, rapid and convenient technique to identify some constituents in complex and mixed plant extracts.