Electrophoretic behavior study and determination of some active components in Chinese medicinal preparations by capillary electrophoresis

The determination of icariin (IC), rhein (RH), chrysophanol (CH), physcion (PHY), glycyrrhetic acid (GE), and glycyrrhizic acid (GI), in traditional Chinese preparations, Anshen Bunao oral liquid and Maren pill, has been investigated by micellar electrokinetic capillary electrophoresis. With borate buffer (10 mM), SDS (20 mM) and acetonitrile (10%) as background electrolyte (pH 9.55), 20 kV applied voltage and 254 nm UV detection, the six active compounds were completely separated within 10 min. The effects of buffer pH, concentration of borate, SDS and modifier on electrophoretic behavior and separation are discussed. Regression equations revealed linear relationships (correlation coefficients: 0.9960-0.9999) between the peak-area of each component and the content. In addition, the levels of the six active compounds in two kinds of traditional Chinese medicinal preparations were easily determined with recoveries of from 94.7% to 106.4%.