Thin-Layer Chromatography: Four Simple Activities for Undergraduate Students

To simplify the conventional thin-layer chromatography, four TLC exercises are described which are easy to perform in a high school or college laboratory. In the first exercise, in place of a conventional TLC plate, an ordinary glass test tube, coated with the adsorbent, was used. In the second, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 1996-10, Vol.73 (10), p.977
Main Authors: Anwar, Jamil, Nagra, Saeed Ahmad, Nagi, Mehnaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical compounds
Chemistry
Chromatography
College students
Developed Nations
Experiments
Foreign Countries
Higher Education
Inhalants
Laboratories
Organic chemistry
Pakistan
Science Activities
Science education
Science Experiments
Science Instruction
Secondary Education
Thin layer chromatography
Undergraduate Students
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Summary:To simplify the conventional thin-layer chromatography, four TLC exercises are described which are easy to perform in a high school or college laboratory. In the first exercise, in place of a conventional TLC plate, an ordinary glass test tube, coated with the adsorbent, was used. In the second, the solvent was fed through a glass capillary, fused in the center of a horizontal TLC plate. Third exercise involved a burette to apply the solvent in the center of a TLC plate. In fourth exercise, which resolved the mixture most rapidly, the TLC plate was rotated with the help of an electric motor and solvent was applied by a burette in the center. In order to compare the results a single set of adsorbent, samples and mobile phase was used throughout the work. The described TLC exercises are generally more simple, inexpensive, faster and reproducible than conventional ascending TLC. The purpose of this work was to simplify conventional TLC exercises so that this important analytical technique could be introduced at the undergraduate level in relatively less developed countries.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/ed073p977