Multiparametric curve fitting-XII Resolution capability of two programs for analysing multicomponent spectra,...

The resolving power of multicomponent spectra analysis and the computation reliability of the stability constants and molar absorptivities determined for nine variously protonated anions of three sulphonephthaleins and an impurity, by analysis of data for a mixture by programs SQUAD(84) and PSEQUAD(83), has been examined by use of synthetic and experimentally measured spectra containing severely overlapping spectral bands. The model mixture of Bromocresol Green, Phenol Red, Thymol Blue and azoxine as impurity, with five yellow, three blue and one red species in the pH range from 2 to 10, was used to examine the influence of precision of spectral data and of use of the spectra of the individual components, on the precision and accuracy of the estimated parameters when the chemical model is known. An efficient computation strategy has been found and both programs were shown to lead to the same values and reliability of the parametric estimates. Of the various diagnostics considered, the goodness-of-fit achieved is used as the criterion of whether the parameters found adequately represent the data.