Simultaneous Determination of nicotinamide, kojic acid, Tranexamic acid, raspberry glycoside, azelaic acid, magnesium ascorbate phosphate and β-Arbutin in whitening cosmetics by UPLC-MS/MS

^1. Chongqing Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Chongqing, 401123, China;
^2. Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Food Safety, Chongqing, 401123, China;
^3. Chongqing Jinzhi Quality Certification Limited Company, Chongqing, 401122, China

Abstract

A UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous determination of 7 whitening ingredients: nicotinamide, kojic acid, Tranexamic acid, raspberry glycoside, azelaic acid, magnesium ascorbate phosphate and β-Arbutin in cosmetics. The whitening active components were extracted from cosmetics by supersonic extraction with sodium chloride and dichloromethane to disperse the sample, and supersonic extraction with 0.015 mol/L potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution purified by HLB solid phase extraction column, scanned and detected by electrospray ionization source with positive and negative ion alternate scanning mode and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The results showed that the whitening active ingredients were separated within 3 minutes, with a good linear relationship (R>0.999), and the detection limit was 0.10mg/kg~0.75mg/kg. The recoveries (n=6) were 78.84%-104.85%, and the RSDs were 0.24%-11.35%. This method is suitable for the rapid determination of whitening active ingredients in cosmetics.