ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

A Novel Method for Peak Number Estimation in Chromatographic Peak Clusters

J. Hrouzek, J. Krupčík, M. Čeppan, Š. Hatrík, and P. A. Leclercq

HERMES PLUS, SK-826 03 Bratislava

Abstract: A procedure for the estimation of the number of peaks in a chromatographic peak cluster is proposed. This procedure is based on the dependence of the sum of squared errors (differences) between real and calculated chromatograms on the considered number of overlapped peaks. Starting with the number of apparent peaks, chromatograms are deconvoluted successively with increasing numbers of peaks possibly present. The sum of squared errors decreases with increasing numbers of peaks up to a point beyond which the function becomes constant. This point corresponds to the best estimation of the real number of peaks present in a cluster. The procedure was successfully used for the peak number estimation in model and real chromatograms.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 545a315.pdf

Chemical Papers 54 (5) 315–319 (2000)