Influence of capillary column efficiency on the reliability of the identification of complex mixtures by gas chromatography

When identifying complex mixtures by gas chromatography the chromatograms of the samples are represented as maps with n and m strips along the abscissa (retention time) and the ordinate (signal intensity), respectively. The probability P of two samples with a number of characteristic peaks, k, being identical, when in fact they are not, can be determined by the equation: P-m.n(k) = (n - k)!k!/mn! The probability P is a measure of certainty of the identification of the objects by their characteristic compounds and gives an opportunity for quantitative assessment of the selectivity of the chromatographic method. Increasing the efficiency of the capillary column renders a more reliable identification. Doubling of the number of characteristic peaks as a result of higher efficiency increases the reliability by several orders. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.