Chromatography is a state-of-the-art technique used to separate, isolate and identify organic and inorganic compounds. It was first used by M. Tswett (1903) to distinguish the colors present on the leaves of green plants. He passed the green solution from the leaves in petroleum ether through a vertical glass tube filled with powdered As the petroleum ether enters through the column, different pigments split into different regions. These areas were cut and extracted with suitable solvents.
Chromatography is based on the general principle of distributing the components of a mixture of organic compounds between two stages.
- Stationary stage. It can be a solid or a liquid spread on a solid.
- Mobile stage: It may be liquid or a gas.
- Adsorption chromatography: When the stationary stage (or fixed phase) becomes a solid, such as alumina, silica gel, magnesium oxide, etc., the process is called absorption chromatography. The compounds of the mixture are absorbed in different parts of the column. The absorbed compounds are eluted with the help of a suitable solvent. This is also called column chromatography.
- Partition chromatography: In this type of chromatography, the stationary stage is a strongly absorbed fluid in the solid that acts as a support. The mobile stage is also fluid. Distributes between soluble static liquid and dynamic liquid. Paper chromatography is a separate case of split chromatography in which the paper strip acts as an absorbent column.
- Gas chromatography or vapour phase chromatography (VPC): This type of chromatography is based on the sweeping of a gas or vapor mixture through a column of inert carrier gas such as helium.
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