Characterization of Atropa belladonna L. compounds by capillary electrophoresis‐electrospray ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis‐electrospray ionization‐ion trap‐mass spectrometry

This short communication describes the characterization of seven tropane alkaloid compounds in Atropa belladonna L. Thus a rapid and easy CE-electrospray interface (ESI)-TOF-MS procedure is developed to analyze these compounds in a pharmaceutical preparations of A. belladonna L. leaf extract. Optimum electrophoretic separation is obtained using an alkaline solution of 60 mM ammonium acetate at pH 8.5 containing 5% isopropanol. Under the optimum CE-ESI-TOF-MS conditions several important compounds such as tropine, belladonnine, norhyoscyamine, apoatropine, hyoscyamine, 6beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine, and scopolamine have been simultaneously identified from A. belladonna L. CE-ESI-IT-MS has been used to discriminate the putative presence of littorine. The sensitivity, together with mass accuracy and true isotopic pattern of the TOF-MS, allowed the identification of a broad series of tropane alkaloid compounds present in pharmaceutical preparations of A. belladonna L. leaf extract.