Establishing the chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine standard decoction based on quality by design approach: A case study of Licorice

A novel analytical quality by design approach for developing a chromatographic fingerprint was established for analyzing complex traditional Chinese medicine, using a licorice standard decoction as an example. Considering the characteristics of integrity and ambiguity, the resolution of eight common peaks, total peak number, capacity factor distributions, and peak purity were selected as potential critical method attributes for assessing the quality of the chromatographic fingerprint. A central composite design was used to evaluate the relationship between critical method attributes and critical method parameters, including column temperature, wavelength, flow rate, formic‐acid concentration, and gradient parameters. A standard probability method was employed to calculate the design space of the fingerprint analysis parameters and evaluate the robustness of the methodology. The optimized high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprint conditions were acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid water gradient elution (0‐5 min, 5–19% A; 5–10 min, 19% A; 10–50 min, 19–42% A; 50–54 min, 42–100% A; 54–60 min, 100% A), column temperature 25±5°C, detection wavelength 265 nm. The design space of fingerprint analytical method based on the analytical quality by design approach not only met the requirements of the fingerprint analysis, but also improved the robustness and applicability of the fingerprint method.     

Effect of quality control on the proliferation of the extract from Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. in Lactobacillus plantarum

In recent years, the fingerprint of high‐performance liquid chromatography has been extensively applied in the identification and quality control of traditional Chinese medicine. It can be a potential protocol for assessing the authenticity, stability and consistency of traditional Chinese medicine and guaranteeing the expected biological activity. In this paper, a method using high‐performance liquid chromatography to identify and control the quality of the extract of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. (TME) was established. With this method, the correlation coefficients of the similarity of 10 batches were ≥0.994. The TME displayed a steady proliferative effect in Lactobacillus plantarum. In brief, this study successfully built a reliable, simple and efficient method to control and confirm the quality and the stability of biological activity of the TME.     

固态发光碳纳米粒子的制备及在潜指纹成像中的应用

采用热分解法, 以柠檬酸钠和尿素为前驱体, 通过控制反应温度制备了不需要结合任何固体分散基质即可呈现明亮固态发光的碳纳米粒子(CNPs). 利用X射线衍射(XRD), 透射电子显微镜(TEM), X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、 紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)和光致发光光谱(PL)等对CNPs的物相、 形貌和粒径、 表面基团及光学特性进行了表征. 结果表明, 该CNPs为无定形碳结构, 准球形形貌, 粒径分布在5~15 nm范围, 其表面存在C=O, C=N和O=C—N等基团. CNPs的水溶液和固体粉末在365 nm紫外光辐射下, 均呈现明亮的蓝绿色发光. 将该CNPs粉末用作荧光试剂可直接显现不同非渗透性客体表面的潜指纹(LFPs). 在365 nm紫外光激发下, CNPs粉末刷显后的LFPs细节特征清晰可辨, 强荧光背景客体表面的LFPs获得了高对比度的显现效果. 同时, 老化30 d的LFPs利用CNPs粉末也能够显现出可识别的指纹细节. CNPs发光粉末作为指纹试剂在刑侦领域具有潜在的应用前景.     

Mass spectrometry imaging of latent fingerprints using titanium oxide development powder as an existing matrix

Recent research has focused on increasing the evidentiary value of latent fingerprints through chemical analysis. Although researchers have optimized the use of organic and metal matrices for matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI‐MSI) of latent fingerprints, the use of development powders as matrices has not been fully investigated. Carbon forensic powder (CFP), a common nonporous development technique, was shown to be an efficient one‐step matrix; however, a high‐resolution mass spectrometer was required in the low mass range due to carbon clusters. Titanium oxide (TiO₂) is another commonly used development powder, especially for dark nonporous surfaces. Here, forensic TiO₂ powder is utilized as a single‐step development and matrix technique for chemical imaging of latent fingerprints without the requirement of a high‐resolution mass spectrometer. All studied compounds were successfully detected when TiO₂ was used as the matrix in positive mode, although, generally, the overall ion signals were lower than the previously studied CFP. TiO₂ provided quality mass spectrometry (MS) images of endogenous and exogenous latent fingerprint compounds. The subsequent addition of traditional matrices on top of the TiO₂ powder was ineffective for universal detection of latent fingerprint compounds. Forensic TiO₂ development powder works as an efficient single‐step development and matrix technique for MALDI‐MSI analysis of latent fingerprints in positive mode and does not require a high‐resolution mass spectrometer for analysis.     

指纹物质中毒品检测的研究进展

指纹作为案件现场中最常见的物证之一,不仅包含了可用于人身识别的形态特征,还蕴含了丰富的反映遗留人人身特点的化学信息。通过对指纹中毒品物质的检测及分析,可提供指纹遗留者毒品的吸食、接触情况,将其与特定案件相联系,反映个人生活方式信息,为涉毒人员的发现提供新思路。该文利用文献计量学方法总结了该领域的发展脉络以及研究现状与热点,主要总结了目前已建立的指纹物质中毒品分析检测的各种技术方法和特点,并对未来研究方向及难点进行评述,以期为实际案件指纹中的毒品检测提供参考。     

电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）法测定黄精中15种稀土元素及其指纹图谱绘制

为了准确测定黄精中稀土元素的含量,采用电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）法同时测定黄精中15种稀土元素（La、Ce、Pr、Nd、Pm、Sm、Eu、Gd、Tb、Dy、Ho、Er、Tm、Yb、Lu）的含量,进而绘制稀土元素指纹图谱,以稀土元素含量的平均值构建黄精稀土元素标准指纹图谱,作为鉴定黄精中药材的参考依据。黄精样品采用微波消解法处理后,通过在线引入内标溶液,采用ICP-MS法测定15种稀土元素的含量,采用OriginPro 2021绘制稀土元素指纹图谱和进行主成分分析,采用SPSS 26.0进行聚类分析。15种稀土元素的线性关系、重复性、精密度良好,平均加标回收率在97.0%~103.3%,相对标准偏差小于等于1.74%。黄精中Ce、La、Nd含量相对较高,Ce含量为53.02～2004.58 μg/kg,位居第一。聚类分析和主成分分析结果表明,样品聚为2类,同一产地的样品能够较好地聚在一起。黄精药材中15种稀土元素的指纹图谱具有相似的分布形态,具有较强的特征性和一致性,相似度均大于0.950。该方法操作简单,准确可靠,能满足实验分析要求,可为黄精的质量控制和药理研究提供参考;建立的指纹图谱可用于黄精的鉴别。     

An integrated strategy for the geographical origin traceability of Goji berries by antioxidants characteristic fingerprint based online ultra-performance liquid chromatography-2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl- photodiode array detector-mass spectrometry combined with multivariate statistics analysis

Goji berries are now becoming increasingly popular in the human diet due to their potential health benefits. Unscrupulous traders deliberately mislabel with certain origins to gain illegal profits, which seriously affected the consumers’ benefits. In this study, an online ultra-performance liquid chromatography-2,2-diphenyl-1 -picrylhydrazyl-photodiode array detector-electrospray ionization-quadrupole time of flight mass was developed for rapid screening and identification of the antioxidants from Goji berry; then, the antioxidants characteristic fingerprint was established and explored in the origins discrimination of Goji berries from China combined with multivariate statistics analysis. As a result, twenty-eight compounds were screened from Goji berry extract, 19 of which were identified by accurate molecular and ultraviolet information according to references. Principal components analysis and partial least squares discrimination analysis achieved the accurate classification from the four regions, eight compounds were selected as origin-related antioxidant markers with variable importance in projection >1 and one-way analysis of variance (P<0.05), including rutin, rutin di-hexose, P-coumaric acid tri-hexose, dicaffeoylquinic acid isomer, Quercetin-rhamno-di-hexoside, peak14, peak16, and peak27. This study provides a feasible strategy for the geographical origins discrimination of Goji berries based on antioxidant ingredients difference and will be helpful for improving the quality control level of Goji berries.     

Monitoring the quality consistency of Weibizhi tablets by micellar electrokinetic chromatography fingerprints combined with multivariate statistical analyses,the simple quantified ratio fingerprint method,and the fingerprint–efficacy relationship

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography fingerprinting combined with quantification was successfully developed and applied to monitor the quality consistency of Weibizhi tablets, which is a classical compound preparation used to treat gastric ulcers. A background electrolyte composed of 57 mmol/L sodium borate, 21 mmol/L sodium dodecylsulfate and 100 mmol/L sodium hydroxide was used to separate compounds. To optimize capillary electrophoresis conditions, multivariate statistical analyses were applied. First, the most important factors influencing sample electrophoretic behavior were identified as background electrolyte concentrations. Then, a Box–Benhnken design response surface strategy using resolution index RF as an integrated response was set up to correlate factors with response. RF reflects the effective signal amount, resolution, and signal homogenization in an electropherogram, thus, it was regarded as an excellent indicator. In fingerprint assessments, simple quantified ratio fingerprint method was established for comprehensive quality discrimination of traditional Chinese medicines/herbal medicines from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, by which the quality of 27 samples from the same manufacturer were well differentiated. In addition, the fingerprint–efficacy relationship between fingerprints and antioxidant activities was established using partial least squares regression, which provided important medicinal efficacy information for quality control. The present study offered an efficient means for monitoring Weibizhi tablet quality consistency.     

Hirshfeld surface analysis of two new phosphorothioic triamide structures

Hirshfeld surfaces and two‐dimensional fingerprint plots are used to analyse the intermolecular interactions in two new phosphorothioic triamide structures, namely N,N′,N′′‐tris(3,4‐dimethylphenyl)phosphorothioic triamide acetonitrile hemisolvate, P(S)[NHC₆H₃‐3,4‐(CH₃)₂]₃·0.5CH₃CN or C₂₄H₃₀N₃PS·0.5CH₃CN, (I), and N,N′,N′′‐tris(4‐methylphenyl)phosphorothioic triamide–3‐methylpiperidinium chloride (1/1), P(S)[NHC₆H₄(4‐CH₃)]₃·[3‐CH₃‐C₅H₉NH₂]⁺·Cl⁻ or C₂₁H₂₄N₃PS·C₆H₁₄N⁺·Cl⁻, (II). The asymmetric unit of (I) consists of two independent phosphorothioic triamide molecules and one acetonitrile solvent molecule, whereas for (II), the asymmetric unit is composed of three components (molecule, cation and anion). In the structure of (I), the different components are organized into a six‐molecule aggregate through N—H...S and N—H...N hydrogen bonds. The components of (II) are aggregated into a two‐dimensional array through N—H...S and N—H...Cl hydrogen bonds. Moreover, interesting features of packing arise in this structure due to the presence of a double hydrogen‐bond acceptor (the S atom of the phosphorothioic triamide molecule) and of a double hydrogen‐bond donor (the N—H unit of the cation). For both (I) and (II), the full fingerprint plot of each component is asymmetric as a consequence of the presence of three fragments. These analyses reveal that H...H interactions [67.7 and 64.3% for the two symmetry‐independent phosphorothioic triamide molecules of (I), 30.7% for the acetonitrile solvent of (I), 63.8% in the phosphorothioic triamide molecule of (II) and 62.9% in the 3‐methylpiperidinium cation of (II)] outnumber the other contacts for all the components in both structures, except for the chloride anion of (II), which only receives the Cl...H contact. The phosphorothioic triamide molecules of both structures include unsaturated C atoms, thus presenting C...H/H...C interactions: 17.6 and 21% for the two symmetry‐independent phosphorothioic triamide molecules in (I), and 22.7% for the phosphorothioic triamide molecule of (II). Furthermore, the N—H...S hydrogen bonds in both (I) and (II), and the N—H...Cl hydrogen bonds in (II), are the most prominent interactions, appearing as large red spots on the Hirshfeld surface maps. The N...H/H...N contacts in structure (I) are considerable, whereas for (II), they give a negligible contribution to the total interactions in the system.     

钐钆共掺杂荧光配合物的合成及在潜手印显现中的应用

以2-噻吩甲酰三氟丙酮(TTA)为第一配体,邻菲罗啉(o-Phen)为第二配体,利用共沉淀法合成一系列钐钆共掺杂荧光配合物,并优化了该系列荧光配合物的合成条件(反应温度、体系pH、稀土离子相对含量)。将最优条件合成的Sm_0.5Gd_0.5TTA₃(o-Phen)荧光配合物粉末用于常见光滑非渗透性客体表面潜在手印的显现,从灵敏度、对比度、选择性、适用性等方面对显现手印效果进行了详细考察。结果表明,显现后的手印在365nm紫外光的激发下,手印与客体背景呈现强烈的颜色反差,手印纹线连贯清晰,细节特征明显可见。该粉末显现手印对比度高,选择性好,适用性强,对陈旧手印也表现出较好的显现效果。