Exploration of Capillary Electrophoresis Separation Mechanism for Alkaloids of Sophora Flavescens by Computer-aided Molecular Modeling

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) shows remarkable separation performance and has advanced to a mature technique for all aspects of pharmaceutical analysis. In this study, triangle coupled with tetrahedron optimization method was used to develope a simple CE method for establishing the CE fingerprints of Alkaloids of Sophora flavescens (ASF). Computer-aided molecular modeling study was first performed to investigate the separation mechanism of the diastereomers in ASF. Experimental results and molecular modeling studies both support that significant differences in the complexation stabilities of the alkaloids with borate and citric acid is mainly responsible for the separation of matrine and sophoridine.