2D development on modern thin layer chromatography in combination with the mass spectrometric method MALDI-TOF-MS (matrix-assisted laser desorptionionization time of flight mass spectrometry) combines the advantage of a multi development high performance chromatographic separation with a high resolution mass spectrometric method. [1] The combination of these two powerful methods is very helpful for fast and, nearly complete characterization. Plant extracts are difficult to separate, due to their high number of single compounds.[2,3]. Different solvent gradients (stepwise) with different polarities in the two-dimensional chromatography lead to better separation results compared to one-dimensional chromatography and gain various helpful information for the design of following clean-up processes. Nevertheless, not fully separated clusters of substances can be analyzed by using MALDI-TOF-MS which makes it possible to separate substances within the mass spectrometric measurement.
An intuitive visualization of the results makes HPTLC- MALDI-MS coupling a useful method for the analysis of complex plant extract raw materials and new products.
The technique of coupling 2D thin layer chromatography with MALDI-TOF-MS is demonstrated by the identification of Flavonoids and other contents in Walteria Indica and Eugenia uniflora extracts.