A rapid method for simultaneous determination of 52 marker compounds in Xiao‐Qing‐Long‐Tang by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry†

Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang (XQLT) is a classical Chinese medicine formula. It is generally used for the treatment of common cold, bronchial asthma, and allergic rhinitis in Asia. In this study, a multicomponent quantification fingerprinting approach based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry has been developed for the analysis of compounds in XQLT in 14.5 min. A total of 52 compounds were identified by co-chromatography of sample extract with authentic standards and comparing the retention time, UV spectra, molecular ions and characteristic fragment ions with those of authentic standards, or tentatively identified by MS(E) determination along with Mass Fragment software. Moreover, the method was validated for the simultaneous quantification of 16 components in XQLT commercial products. The method is practical for comprehensive standardization of XQLT and holistic comparison of its commercial products from different manufacturers.