An entropy based approach to estimation of analytical information. A hypothesis

In this article, we propose a hypothesis to outline features of amount of analytical information to be obtained during chemical analysis. The information is considered in its connection with thermodynamic properties of a system under analyzing, especially with entropy as a measure of the lost information. Based on this supposition, a formal mathematical relation that connects the volume of analytical information in a qualitative chemical analysis with the concentration of an analyte, temperature, molecular weight and its thermodynamic properties, e.g. enthalpy of formation, has been derived. This relation should not be considered as a rigid mathematical connection but may be used as a guide to search correlations between the analytical information and thermodynamic properties of a system. The first examples of such correlations are given. In many cases, absolute correlation coefficients, R, are higher than 0.9. In our opinion, this hypothesis seems to be promising but requires further confirmation within different fields of analytical chemistry, remaining open to question.