Determination of Camptothecin and 10-Hydroxycamptothecin inCamptotheca acuminataby LC-ESI-MS/MS

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method with multiple reaction monitoring was developed for the simultaneous determination of camptothecin and 10-hydroxycamptothecin in Camptotheca acuminata. The separation of camptothecin and 10-hydroxycamptothecin was performed on an Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column with a mixture of methanol and water (1:1, v/v) containing 0.2% formic acid as a mobile phase. The limits of detection of camptothecin and 10-hydroxycamptothecin were 4.0 ng/mL and 7.0 ng/mL (S/N = 3), respectively. Analysis took 10 minutes, making the method suitable for rapid determination of camptothecin and 10-hydroxycamptothecin in C. acuminata.