TLC

Chromatography is a method of separating mixtures of two or more compounds. The separation is accomplished by the distribution of the mixture between two phases: one that is stationary and one that is moving. Chromatography works on the principle that different compounds will have different solubilities and adsorption to the two phases between which they are to be partitioned.

Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) is a solid-liquid technique in which the two phases are a solid (stationary phase) and a liquid (moving phase). Solids most commonly used in chromatography are silica gel (SiO2 x H2O) and alumina (Al2O3 x H2O). Both of these adsorbents are polar, but alumina is more so. Silica is also acidic. Alumina is available in neutral, basic, or acidic forms.

TLC involves spotting the sample to be analyzed near one end of a sheet of glass or plastic that is coated with a thin layer of an adsorbent. The sheet, which can be the size of a microscope slide, is placed on end in a covered jar containing a shallow layer of solvent. As the solvent rises by capillary action up through the adsorbent, differential partitioning occurs between the components of the mixture dissolved in the solvent the stationary adsorbent phase. The more strongly a given component of a mixture is adsorbed onto the stationary phase, the less time it will spend in the mobile phase and the more slowly it will migrate up the plate.