REAL-TIME ANALYSIS OF MULTICOMPONENT CHROMATOGRAMS - APPLICATION TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

In liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection, a number of approaches have been developed in chemometrics to determine an analyte of interest in the presence of one or more unknown compounds, So far, these techniques have required time-consuming data analysis programs, and are not suitable for routine analysis. A 'derivative spectrum chr omatogram' is proposed as a new approach for resolving overlapped peak s in real time, This procedure is based on the following assumptions: (i) an absorption spectrum of an analyte with rounded humps changes to steep peaks by high-order derivatization; and (ii) the principle of s uperposition is valid for the derivative spectra of a sample mixture. The performance of this procedure is assessed with real data for the s eparation of pesticides by liquid chromatography.