Chemical Profiling of Jiedu Huoxue Decoction by Ultra‐High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled With Q Exactive Orbitrap and Quantification of Main Effective Constituents by Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

ABSTRACT The Jiedu Huoxue decoction (JHD) is a traditional Chinese herbal formula used by Professor Zhang Qi, a Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, to treat acute kidney injury, and it has demonstrated good clinical efficacy. However, existing studies lack a systematic characterization of the overall chemical composition of JHD and unified evaluation standards for its quality control. This situation hinders the comprehensive development and application of JHD in clinical practice, and its pharmacological mechanism has not been clarified. In this study, a rapid and sensitive ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography‐Q Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐Q‐Exactive Orbitrap MS) technology was employed to rapidly analyze and identify the chemical constituents of JHD. High‐resolution mass spectrometric data were acquired in Full MS/dd‐MS 2 mode, with precursor ions fragmented by higher‐energy collisional dissociation using stepped normalized collision energies of 20, 35, and 50. A total of 177 compounds were found, including 84 flavonoids, 23 terpenes, 23 phenylpropanoids, 10 triterpene saponins, nine phenethyl glycosides, nine glycosides, six amino acids, four fatty acids, three organic acids, and six other compounds. In addition, a comprehensive analytical strategy based on HPLC‐QqQ‐MS/MS was established, enabling rapid quantitative analysis of 16 active components in JHD within 15 min, which provides a scientific basis for quality control and effective component research of JHD.