Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of p-benzoquinone and chloranil after microcrystalline naphthalene extraction by using genetic algorithm-based wavelength selection-partial least squares regression.

Microcrystalline naphthalene extraction has been used for the preconcentration of p-benzoquinone and tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone (chloranil), after their reaction by aniline, and later simultaneous spectrophotometric analysis by genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS) calibration. The chemical variables affecting the analytical performance of the methodology were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions i.e., aniline] = 0.05 M and naphthalene] = 2.2% (w/v), preconcentration of 25 ml of sample solution permitted the detection of 0.32 and 0.23 microg ml(-1) for p-benzoquinone and chloranil, respectively. The predictive abilities of partial least squares regression (PLS) and genetic algorithm-partial least squares regression (GA-PLS) were examined for simultaneous determination of two quinones. The GA-PLS shows superiority over other PLS methods due to the wavelength selection in PLS calibration using a genetic algorithm without loss of prediction capacity, provides useful information about the chemical system.