Chemometrics in pharmaceutical analysis: an introduction, review, and future perspectives.

Chemometrics is the application of statistical and mathematical methods to analytical data to permit maximum collection and extraction of useful information. The utility of chemometric techniques as tools enabling multidimensional calibration of selected spectroscopic, electrochemical, and chromatographic methods is demonstrated. Application of this approach mainly for interpretation of UV-Vis and near-IR (NIR) spectra, as well as for data obtained by other instrumental methods, makes identification and quantitative analysis of active substances in complex mixtures possible, especially in the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations present in the market. Such analytical work is carried out by the use of advanced chemical instruments and data processing, which has led to a need for advanced methods to design experiments, calibrate instruments, and analyze the resulting data. The purpose of this review is to describe various chemometric methods in combination with UV-Vis spectrophotometry, NIR spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, electroanalysis, chromatographic separation, and flow-injection analysis for the analysis of drugs in pharmaceutical preparations. Theoretical and practical aspects are described with pharmaceutical examples of chemometric applications. This review will concentrate on gaining an understanding of how chemometrics can be useful in the modern analytical laboratory. A selection of the most challenging problems faced in pharmaceutical analysis is presented, the potential for chemometrics is considered, and some consequent implications for utilization are discussed. The reader can refer to the citations wherever appropriate.