Method for Rapid Screening of Chlorophenols Using a Reduced Calibration Set of UV Spectra and Multivariate Calibration Techniques

Abstract

A method for the rapid screening of five chlorophenols in the ppm concentration range (2-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 4-chloro-m-cresol, and pentachlorophenol) is described. It is based on the use of first derivative UV spectrophotometry with a reduced calibration set constituted by eleven standard solutions, selected according to a four level fractional factorial experimental design, and in the use of multivariate calibration techniques (partial least squares and artificial neural networks) as calibration models. This methodology allows the development of calibration models with good prediction ability for the rapid simultaneous analysis of the five chlorophenols.

Key Words:

• Chlorophenols
• UV spectrophotometry
• Experimental design
• First derivative spectra
• Partial least squares
• Artificial neural networks