Abstract
This paper describes the development, evaluation, features and applications of Chromophoreasy, an alternative Excel-based program for recognition and integration of chromatographic and electrophoretic peaks. The proposed recognition is made according to parameters adjustable by the analyst, such as time range, noise smoothing window size and slope/curvature sensitivity. During integration, retention/migration time, area, height, half-height width, plate numbers, asymmetry factor, US Pharmacopeia tailing factor, resolution and statistical moments are determined. A chromatogram/electropherogram is plotted along with the found baselines. The effect of peak shape (heights and symmetries) and baseline slope over accuracy was evaluated and the precision of recognition/integration was investigated under several simulated conditions, with varied signal-to-noise levels, smoothing modes and smoothing window sizes. Data from liquid and gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and electrochromatography techniques with refractive index, flame ionization, capacitively coupled contactless conductivity (lab-made) and ultraviolet absorbance detections, respectively, were treated, illustrating the broad applicability of the proposed program for standard and sample analysis. Statistically similar results were obtained, when compared with other commercial software, showing it to be a simple, practical and reliable tool for general use in the separation area.
Highlights
Separation science clearly occupies a prominent position in analytical chemistry
This paper describes the development, evaluation, features and some applications of Chromophoreasy, an alternative program proposed for recognition and integration of chromatographic and electrophoretic peaks, developed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which operates in the familiar Microsoft Excel (2010) environment
The peak recognition and integration accuracy were tested in a simulated chromatogram with 14 min at a sampling rate of 2.0 Hz, without noise, containing positive, negative, symmetric, fronting and tailing peaks with heights varying in six magnitude orders
Summary
Separation science clearly occupies a prominent position in analytical chemistry. Several advantages such as sensitivity of detection modes, selectivity and efficiency of separation columns and short analysis times, have led the chromatographic and electromigration techniques to this high level.[1,2,3] the dispersion of the analyte molecules during their continuous and differential motion along the separation system is one of the main unavoidable separation characteristics, so that the analyte registration should be as representative as possible. Parameters, such as retention/ migration time (tR), height (h), area (A), half-height width (w0.5), plate numbers (N), asymmetry (As) and US Pharmacopeia tailing factor (Tf) are calculated from the adjusted peak, obtained through the subtraction of baseline from original signal (Figure 2b).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
