| Abstract: | This paper investigates the ability of seven chromatographic response functions to measure the quality of chromatograms obtained in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). First, the functions were tested on a set of simulated chromatograms and differences in their mathematical design were discussed. Second, the functions were evaluated on the experimentally obtained chromatograms in HILIC analysis of model mixture consisted of beta agonists and antagonists. The ranking of chromatograms obtained by different functions was significantly different, implying that the accuracy of the optimization procedure is strongly dependent on the function that was selected as an output. Investigation of potential drawbacks of each function was conducted and general recommendations concerning the use of chromatographic response functions in optimization strategies are proposed. |
