Characterization and Classification of Pseudo-Stationary Phases in Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography Using Chemometric Methods

Two types of chemometric methods, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis, are employed to characterize and classify a total of 70 pseudostationary phases (54 distinct systems and 16 decoy systems) in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). PCA excels at removing redundant information for micellar phase characterization and retaining principal determinants for phase classification. While PCA is useful in the characterization of micelle selectivities, it is ineffective in defining the grouping of micellar phases. Hierarchical clustering yields a complete dendrogram of cluster structures but provides only limited cluster characterizations. The combination of these two chemometric methods leads to a comprehensive interpretation of the micellar phase classification. Moreover, the k-means analysis can further discern subtle differences among those closely located micellar phases. All three chemometric methods result in similar classifications with respect to the similarities and differen...