Testing the possibility of using UV–vis spectrophotometric techniques to determine non-absorbing analytes by inclusion complex competition in cyclodextrins

Abstract: In this paper, a general methodology to determine non-chromogenic compounds by UV–vis spectrophotometry given the competition of their inclusion complex in cyclodextrins with a structure-alike synthetic standard has been explored. The method was satisfactorily applied to quantify γ-lindane to levels as low as 0.05μgmL−1 in tap water spiked with standard by resolving the UV–vis spectra of the complex of the structure-alike chromogenic standard and HP-γ-cyclodextrin by partial least squares (PLS). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]