QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MIXTURE ANALYSIS BY LIBRARY SEARCH - INFRARED-ANALYSIS OF MIXTURES OF CARBOHYDRATES

A method for automatic qualitative mixture analysis and the evaluation of the relative composition of the mixtures using the library search system SUSY is described. The method makes use of a library of reference spectra and their peak tables. The components in a mixture are identified and quantified by a combination of a special comparison of peak tables and a linear regression. The method was developed to analyse solid mixtures prepared as KBr pellets containing only a few compounds from a great number of possible constituents. It was tested with 91 two- and three-component mixtures of nine different carbohydrates. Using a corresponding library of reference spectra, the method can be applied to any kind of mixture spectra if there are only small differences between the band positions of the pure and the mixed components.