MULTICOMPONENT DETERMINATION OF THE PESTICIDE NAPTALAM AND ITS METABOLITES IN RIVER WATER, BY APPLYING PARTIAL LEAST-SQUARES CALIBRATION TO THE DERIVATIVE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC SIGNALS

A multivariate calibration method, partial least squares (types PLS-1 and PLS-2), was applied to the simultaneous determination of naptalam (N-(1-naphthyl) phthalamic acid) and its metabolites N-(1-naphthyl) phthalimide and 1-naphthylamine in mixtures by UV-visible absorption spectrophotometry. The absorption and first-derivative absorption spectra of mixtures were used to perform the optimization of the calibration matrices by the PLS method. Two different experimental designs for the three-component mixtures are assayed and the results are discussed. The proposed method with the derivative spectra was applied to the determination of these analytes in river water at the ppb level.