Application of Principal Components Analysis to TLC Data for 596 Basic and Neutral Drugs in Four Eluent Systems

Abstract
Principal component analysis (PCA) of the Rf values for 596 basic and neutral drugs in four eluent mixtures provided a significant two-component model which explained 77% of the total variance. Each drug was characterized on a plane by two principal component scores. The loading plot shows that three eluent mixtures are clustered into the same group providing similar information. For identification of unknowns, the method provided a drastic reduction of the range of possibilities to a few candidates.