Expert system approach to eluent optimisation in reverse-phase liquid chromatography with multichannel detection

The optimisation of eluent composition in reversed-phase liquid chromatography is a complex process, which often requires the expenditure of a significant amount of effort on the part of the chromatographer. To assist in this task an expert system has been developed which uses a gradient elution experiment to determine the appropriate initial solvent strength, followed by response surface modeling using an iterative regression method to determine the mobile phase composition for optimum resolution. Spectral information from a multichannel diode array detector is used to provide retention information for this model. Peak homogeneity is assessed by a number of independent modules, the output from which is interpreted by the expert system and used to validate the response surface model constructed by the optimisation procedure.