1. Comparative Analysis of Arbutin and Tranexamic Acid in Skin Whitening Products
Chuxin Chen

2. Backgrounds
According to the aesthetic of most estern Asian people, women are more attractive in brighter skin tones. Thus the skin whitening products have a large market in countries like Japan, Korea and China.
Different types of whitening products varied a lot in prices, I would especially investigate in how the tranexamic acid added products are different form the arbutin added products.

3. Analytes

4. Hypothesis
The hypothesis is: the tranexamic acid added products are more effective, stable and healthier than the arbutin added products.

5. Pump to produce high oressure
Reverse-Phase HPLC MS
The reverse-phase HPLC will give good peak resolutions and high efficiency coupled to tandem MS
Able to quantify analytes by using a internal standard solution.
Sample reservoir
Pump to produce high oressure
Sample injection
Column tube
ion source
mass analyzer
detector
Data system

6. Instrumentation HPLC: Agilent 1200
Column: Nucleosil brand C18 (10µm,25*0.46cm)
The mobile phase for the separation was acetonitrile/water (v:v 50:50), the PH of the mobile phase was adjusted to 2.6 by phosphoric acid (85%, w/w).
Detector: tandem MS

7. Sample preparation
10ml of the internal standard solution (0.5g/L) is made and added into the 100µL sample which was contained into a 1.5mL plastic tube.
100µL of perchloric acid(2.5% w/w) were than added.
sample was then vortex mixed for 30s and centrifuged at 14,000rpm for 10min.
100µL of the aqueous supernatant is decanted into another tube and 150µL of sodium hydroxide (0.1M) was added.
sample is vortex mixed for 10s, and transferred into injection vials for analysis.

8. Results MS of arbutin transfer product by rBglA
MS of tranexamic acid derivative of Ethyl chloroformate

9. Method specifications:
Concentration range: µg/mL
linear regression correlation coefficient:
CV range: %
LOD: 0.05 µg/mL
LLOQ: 1.0 µg/mL
ULOQ : µg/mL
Accuracy: 96.9%

10. Alternative methods Method Advantage Disadvantage
Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE)
Can have a good separation of analytes, fast rate.
Too expensive
HPLC UV-Vis
UV-Vis detector can detect and quantify analytes well
Analytes are not able to be recognized since the overlap of the organic species in certain regions.

11. Methods for other comparisons
Effectiveness:
100 volunteers, both will keep apply the arbutin added skin supplies on the left wrist and tranexamic acid added skin supplies on the right wrist everyday, the brightness effect of skintone can be compared after 2 months’ experiment.
Stability:
>analytes will be exposed in the open air, keep checking by NMR which one is oxidized by air or decompose first.
>analytes will be exposed under light, keep checking by NMR to see if any of them is light reactive.

12. References:
No time left….. (＞﹏＜)