ABSTRACT
Multicomponent analysis by ow injection and related ow techniques is mainly focused on the simultaneous determination of a few target compounds, generally two or three (Saurina, 2008, 2010). For more analytes, the effort required to develop an adequate method may not be matched by the features normally offered by ow systems; in such circumstances, separation techniques seem to be a more reasonable choice. Nevertheless, the interest of ow methods in multicomponent analysis cannot be underestimated. In general, FI methods do not physically separate components that ow together through the system and reach the detector(s) at the same time. Hence, in the absence of separation, alternative mechanisms are needed to ensure detection of each analyte under selective conditions. For this purpose, various physicochemical approaches, including the use of specic reagents, multiway detectors and multichannel manifolds, can be exploited (Saurina, 2008). The design of the ow manifold, including conguration of channels as well as injection, reaction, and detection elements, and optimization of experimental conditions, such as ow rates, reactor dimensions, injection volume(s), and chemical (reaction) conditions (Bosque-Sendrá et al., 2003), are fundamental to reaching the desired selectivity. Beyond these physicochemically based mechanisms, application of chemometric methods can be successful when selectivity has not been achieved experimentally (Saurina, 2010).
