Abstract:Objective:To establish an HPLC method for simultaneous determination of benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine, benzoylhypacoitine and hypaconitine in Wuqi Qufengsan tablets. Method: The assay was performed on a Hanbon-C18(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm), mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran (25: 15, phase A)-0.1 mol · L-1 ammonium acetate(containing 0.5 mL glacial acetic acid per 1 000 mL, phase B) with gradient elution at the flow rate of 1.0 mL · min-1, column temperature was 30 ℃, and the detection wavelength was at 235 nm. Result: Excellent chromatographic separation was achieved for four studied alkaloids with good linearity(r>0.999 0), the average recoveries were 101.10%(RSD 2.1%), 101.09%(RSD 2.2%), 102.04%(RSD 1.6%), 97.83%(RSD 2.7%). The limits of detection were 3.4, 1.7, 2.2and 0.8 ng respectively. Conclusion: This method was simple, accurate and reproducible, it can be used to determine the content of benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine, benzoylhypacoitine and hypaconitine in Wuqi Qufengsan tablets.