Thin Layer Chromatography Lab Report

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This lab used thin-layer chromatography to analyze the polarity of an Analtech dye mixture and the polarity of pigments isolated from a spinach leaf using liquid-liquid extraction. Chromatography is a method of separating mixtures into their pure compounds. The separation occurs because the intermolecular attractions in the mixture differ in their polarity. The stationary phase also has intermolecular attractions. Separation occurs as the mobile phase passes over the stationary phase. All types of chromatography have a stationary and mobile phase. A stationary phase is a substance that has different levels of attraction to the mixture. The stationary phase in this lab was the silica gel on the TLC plate. The movie phase is the solvent to carry …show more content…

Additionally, chromatography can be used to test the purity of a compound. If a sample is run with several solvent systems, and there is only spot each time, the sample is probably pure. Additionally, TLC can be used to identify an unknown molecule. If an unknown and know are run with several different solvent systems, and have the Rf every time, they are probably identical. Rf stands for retention factor and is equal to the distance the spot travels divided by the distance the solvent travels. TLC can also be used to monitor the progress of a …show more content…

Rf values have a range from 0 to 1. An Rf value of 0 indicates the mixture doesn't move while a value of 1 indicates the mixture traveled the complete length of the plate. For a specific solvent each compound has a specific Rf value. This is also true of the solvent concentration. Rf values are useful in identifying unknowns. In this lab, the lower the Rf value the more polar the compound was. This lab also isolated spinach pigments by liquid-liquid extraction. Liquid-liquid extraction separates compounds based on their differing solubilities into different immiscible liquids. Hexane and ethanol were added to the broken up spinach. This created two different layers. The two layers formed because hexane and ethanol are immiscible meaning the do not mix. The ethanol layer was removed and discarded. Water was then added creating two new layers. Water and hexane are also immiscible leading to the formation of the layers. The hexane layer was removed and concentrated in a rotavap. It was then put on a TLC plate and thin-layer chromatography was performed. All of the pigments isolated were non-polar which is why they were able to be extracted in the hexane

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