In our column chromatography of spinach most students obtain three or four bands.However, a TLC of the same spinach extract can yield up to 7 spots on the TLC. Explainwhy one can not isolate the same number of bands from the column as there are on theTLC?
Solution.
The column chromatography is usually used for the separation purposes, whereas the TLC is used for analytical purposes. After a separation is complete, in TLC the individual compounds appear as spots separated vertically. Each spot has a retention factor (Rf) which is equal to the distance migrated over the total distance covered by the solvent. Some of the compounds of spinach has the similar retention values resulting in band overlapping, therefore we have only 3-4 bands in the columt chromatography. At the same time, the conditions of TLC were favorable to the complete separation of individual compounds.
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