Thin Layer Chromatography

Chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid called the mobile phase, which carries it through a structure holding another material called the stationary phase. The various constituents of the mixture travel at different speeds, causing them to separate. The separation is based on differential partitioning between the mobile and stationary phases. Subtle differences in a compound's partition coefficient result in differential retention on the stationary phase and thus affect the separation. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatographic technique that we use to separate the components of a mixture using a thin stationary phase such as silica plate supported by an inert backing. It applies mainly in medical, biological, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences because it is easy to be done and saves time because the reaction is fast. This method used for identifying mixtures by separating the compounds in the mixture. TLC is also used to help determining the number of components in a mixture, identifying the compounds, and the purity of a compound. It can also be used to determine the progress of a reaction. TLC consists of three steps which are spotting,
As the solvent travels up the plate, the original spot of the compound is moves over. The very polar silica gel tries to hold the spot in its original place and the solvent tries to move the spot along with it as it travels up through the plate. Different components in the original spot with different polarities will move different distances from the original spot and ended up showing separate spots. The plate is removed when the solvent has travelled almost to the top of the plate and then the spots are marked with a pencil, and the solvent is then allowed to