Deconvolution of partially overlapping tailing peaks in diode array high performance liquid chromatography using purity ratios

A new approach to deconvolution of diode array HPLC data is described. It i s illustrated by the chromatograms of 2- and 3-hydroxypyridine undertaken a t pH 4.8, 5.1 and 5.2 representing three different qualities of resolution from almost totally overlapping to well resolved. In all cases peaks are ta iling, typical of many real situations. The first step is to select wavelen gths using the normalised spectra at each point in time. Next a purity curv e is obtained from these wavelengths, which is related to a real purity cur ve used for deconvolution. It is shown that the method is robust over the f ull resolvability range.