[Identification of bryostatins in Bugula neritina extracts by high performance liquid chromatography and Q-Tof mass...

A method with tandem high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Q-Tof mass spectrometry (MS) has been established for the qualitative assay of bryostatins in Bugula neritina extracts. Ten bryostatins were well separated on a Polaris C18-5 column (4.6 mm i.d. x 200 mm, 5 microm) with methanol and water (80:20, v/v) as mobile phase. The bryostatins were qualitatively detected with the mass spectrometric detection. Ten bryostatins were found in the Bugula neritina collected from Gulf of Dayawan (Shenzhen, China). Mass spectra of the peaks led to the identification of nine known bryostatins that were bryostatins 4, 5, 6(9), 7, 8, 10, 16, 17, 18. Bryostatins 4, 5, 8, 10 could be further verified by the retention times of the corresponding standards. The two trace constituents, bryostatin 7 and 17, were for the first time found in Bugula neritina inhabiting in China sea. It is interesting that the result indicated the existence of a possibly new bryostatin in the mixture. The work above provides a quick and accurate assay method for the qualitative identification of the bryostatins in Bugula neritina extracts.