Data evaluation in high-performance liquid chromatography-diode-array detection-fluorescence detection by information theory

The concepts of information theory were applied to the high-performance liq uid chromatography (HPLC) technique, with diode-array (DAD) and/or fluoresc ence (FLD) detections. The information amount for a complete analysis can b e computed as a function of analytical parameters, such as the number of an alytes, level of concentration, and standard deviation of determinations. B y means of the proposed method, the information content of a qualitative an d quantitative analysis accomplished by HPLC-DAD-FLD was estimated, and sen sitivity was optimized taking into account a maximum information content, w hile the detection limit was estimated considering that at this level of co ncentration the information content approaches zero.