ABSTRACT
The problem of optimization can be traced back to the advent of chromatography as an analytical method. Separation optimization is related to the proper choice of the parameters influencing the separation. Optimization is treated separately by every chromatographic method, taking into account the specific problems encountered in the fields of gas and liquid chromatography. Even in liquid chromatography, the subject of optimization is different in planar chromatography (1, 2) from that involved in column liquid chromatography (3, 4), and only a few authors have approached this subject as a general case (5). Simultaneously with the widespread use of computers in analytical laboratories, the topic has attracted more and more attention, and a great number of software packages have been developed to help the analyst in the optimization separation parameters (6-8). Some forms of optimization are generally necessary in planar chromatography if the separation of all compounds is required, especially when the number of components is larger than a small fraction of the spot capacity of the system.
