The partial least squares regression method (PLS) was tested as a calibration procedure for the simultaneous determination of phenol, o-nitrophenol, m-nitrophenol and p-nitrophenol by both conventional and first derivative UV/Vis spectrophotometry. The experiments were conducted in the acidic, neutral and basic media. The results obtained by the application of the PLS procedure on the conventional and first derivative spectra in two solvent media were compared. It was found that the results obtained in the basic medium have better performance characteristics than those obtained in the acidic or neutral media. Comparable results were obtained in the case of both conventional and first derivative absorbance data. The proposed method was applied to the determination of the four phenol derivatives in natural spiked water samples at concentration levels between 1.0 and 10.0 μg ml-1 with average recoveries in the range 96% - 99%.
