A new algorithm for generation of chromatograms in gas chromatography/Fourier transform infrared spectrometry is described. This 'maximum absorbance' algorithm is compared with both the integrated absorbance method and the Gram-Schmidt reconstruction technique. Such comparisons establish that maximum absorbance reconstruction is more sensitive than the integrated absorbance method for selective detection reconstructions. For universal (i. e. , wide frequency window) reconstructions, the maximum absorbance algorithm is as sensitive as the Gram-Schmidt reconstruction.