Abstrakt
The opium alkaloids in three historical pharmaceutical relics dated to the eighteenth century were analyzed by HPLC-MS. The conditions of extraction of alkaloids from the sample and their HPLC analysis were optimized.
A broad spectrum of opium alkaloids was found and degradation products of papaverine and noscapine were identified. The identity of compounds found was confirmed by MS/MS.
For three compounds (methylhydrocotarnine, papaverinol, and papaveraldine) the ESI+-MS/MS fragmentation mechanism has been proposed. The content of five selected opium alkaloids (cotarnine, meconin, morphine, papaverine, and noscapine) was determined in analyzed samples, and the concentration ratio of noscapine and cotarnine was proposed as a marker of the age of a preparation.