Determination of divalent carboxylic acids in traditional Chinese herbal and patent medicines using HPLC with double cell quartz crystal detector

Abstract

A rapid, simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method combined with a novel double cell quartz crystal (DCQC) detector is described for the determination of divalent carboxylic acids in traditional Chinese herbal and patent medicines. The chromatographic system involves the use of a μBondapak-NH2 column with 20 mM KH2PO4 (pH 3.4, adjusted by H3PO4)/acetonitrile (95:5%) as a mobile phase. The DCQC detector has a low temperature coefficient and high conductance sensitivity independent of the background from 7.2 to 2500 μS. Analysis of sample is completed without the use of an ion suppression device. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.