Abstract: Objective To identify the chemical constituents of Lianpo decoction, and to establish a method for simultaneous determination of the contents of 11 active substances in the decoction using HPLC-QQQ MS/MS. Methods The ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 µm) with 0.1% aqueous formic acid (A)-acetonitrile (B) as the mobile phase and under gradient elution was used for the identification and quantification of the chemical components. Results Fifty chemical components were identified from the Lianpo decoction, including 15 organic acids, 10 alkaloids, 6 terpenes and 5 flavonoids. Among them, 11 components such as coptisine, trigonelline and genistein were confirmed through a comparison with reference standards. An HPLC-QQQ MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous quantification of coptisine, trigonelline, genistein, palmatine, berberine, ferulic acid, geniposide, honokiol, magnolol, daidzein, and succinic acid in the decoction. The concentration ranges of the components showed a good linearity (R>0.999), the average spiked recoveries ranged from 90.78% to 115.10%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the repeatability tests were all less than 4%. Conclusion The study has identified the chemical constituents of Lianpo decoction, and established a method for simultaneous determination of 11 components. This method is sensitive, accurate and rapid, which can help establish more methods for quality control of Lianpo decoction.

Key words: Lianpo Decoction, Chemical Constituents, Coptisine, Trigonelline, Genistein, Content Determination, HPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS/MS, HPLC-QQQ MS/MS