Tender Loving Chromatography

The Learning Chromatography

What happened?!

spot TLC plates.mp4

Make solutions of your product, starting material standard, and product standard

It doesn't matter which solvent we use to spot, since this evaporates before the TLC starts

Use the UV lamp to make sure the spots are dark enough to see before running

If you make a new compound, you won't know what TLC solvent gives the best separation.

Lucky for us, there is a highly scientific process known as guess-and-check!

We'll start with my favorite solvent 4:1 Hexanes:Ethyl Acetate

The solvent takes about 5min to reach the top of the plate

Remember to mark the solvent front before it evaporates!

Run TLC with 4 to 1 hex to EtOAc.mp4

This is not a good solvent for separating these particular compounds

(left to right: acetaminophen, phenacetin, product)

Try another solvent

Give up

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