Simultaneous Determination of Four Phenolic Compounds and Tanshinone IIA in Guanxintong Tablets by LC Using Combined Electrochemical Detection and DAD

A rapid, sensitive and accurate method for the simultaneous separation and determination of four phenolic compounds, including protocatechuic acid, protocatechuic aldehyde, caffeic acid and ferulic acid, and tanshinone IIA in Guanxintong tablets by high performance liquid chromatography using combined electrochemical detection with diode array detection (HPLC-ECD-DAD) has been established. The detection and quantification limits of four phenolic compounds with ECD were 7–28 fold greater than those obtained with DAD. High sensitivity was achieved using DAD for the detection of tanshinone IIA, which is an electrochemically inactive compound. All calibration curves showed good linearity (r ≥ 0.9996) within the test ranges. The recoveries ranged from 96.5% to 101.7%. Combining ECD with DAD can not only exert their respective advantages, but also widen its applications to detect various analytes in low level directly. This approach can be used to control the quality of Guanxintong tablets.