Pure Appl. Chem., 2002, Vol. 74, No. 8, pp. 1479-1487
doi:10.1351/pac200274081479
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY DIVISION
COMMISSION ON GENERAL ASPECTS OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Concepts and applications of the term "dimensionality" in analytical chemistry (IUPAC Technical Report)
Klaus Danzer, Jacobus F. van Staden, and Duncan Thorburn Burns
1Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Lessingstrasse 8, D-07743 Jena, Germany; 2Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa; 3Department of Analytical Chemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5AG, N. Ireland, UK
Abstract:
The term "dimensionality" has been used by the analytical chemistry community with several meanings. On different occasions, analysts speak about "two-dimensional" analytical methods, for example, 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, 2D thin-layer chromatography, "two-dimensional" or "three-dimensional" analytical information [1], "two-dimensional" or "three-dimensional" images in surface analytical chemistry, and of "m-dimensional" analytical data [2] obtained, for example, as a result of multicomponent analyses. These examples show that the use of the term "dimensionality" is at times contradictory. This confused position does not promote the unequivocal application of the term "dimensionality" in analytical chemistry. The aim of this document is to provide a concept for the use of the term "dimensionality" as it is related to analytical information.