In the analytical environment, spectral data resulting from analysis of samples often represent mixtures of several components. Extraction of information about pure components of these kinds of mixtures is a major problem, especially when reference spectra are not available or when unstable intermediates are formed. Self-modeling multivariate mixture analysis has been developed for this type of problem. In this paper two examples will be used to show the potential of this technique coupled with FT-Raman spectroscopy to elucidate reaction mechanisms and to follow in situ the kinetics of chemical transformations.
