THE QUALITY OF QUANTITATION IN CHROMATOGRAPHY .1. INFORMATION THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

An extension to Shannon's information theory, permitting to calculate the channel capacity of a chromatographic column, is proposed. The cha nnel capacity determines the maximum amount of information passing thr ough the column and with that the uncertainty (error) of the peak area estimation. The possibility to calculate the efficiency of a chromato graphic system in terms of information theory is proposed. The propert ies of signal and noise have to be described by the power spectral den sity function. Knowing that the properties of a peak are dependent on the retention time, the change of the information rate can be calculat ed as a function of the retention time of the peak.