Fast ion bombardment mass spectrometry of sanguinarine and coptisine from Chelidonium majus L. callus cells

Abstract This paper reports the identification of sanguinarine and coptisine isolated from the crude extract of callus culture of Chelidonium majus by positive fast ion bombardment (FIB+) mass spectrometry (MS) and FIB+ tandem mass spectrometry (MS‐MS). Callus was cultivated on Gamborg B5 medium for three weeks at 25°C and extracted with 70% ethanol. The alkaloids were extracted into chloroform, following ion pair formation, and then separated on a silica gel column. The presence of sanguinarine and coptisine was initially determined from chromatographic analysis, and the structures of the compounds were confirmed by MS. MS‐MS analysis was not suitable for coptisine since this compound did not produce daughter ions.