Thin-Layer Chromatography

Prof Dr H Jork
Umversitat des Saarlandes
Fachbereich 14
Stadtwald
D-6600 Saarbrucken
Dr W Fischer
c/o E Merck
Abteilung V Reag SPA
Frankfurter StraBe 250
D-6100 Darmstadt
Prof W Funk
Fachbereich Techmsches Gesundheitswesen
der Fachhochschule GieBen-Fnedberg
WiesenstraBe 14
D-6300 GieBen
Hans Wimmer
Eckhardt-StraBe 23
D-6100 Darmstadt
This book was carefully produced Nevertheless, authors, translator and publisher do not warrant
the information contained therein to be free of errors Readers are advised to keep in mind that
statements, data, illustrations, procedural details or other items may inadvertently be inaccurate
Editorial Director Dr Hans F Ebel
Production Manager Dipl -Ing (FH) Hans Jorg Maier
Library of Congress Card No
89-16558
British Library Cataloguing-in-Pubhcation Data
Thinlayer chromatography reagents and detection methods
Vol la physical and chemical detection methods
1 Thin layer chromatography
I Jork, Hellmut
543' 08956
ISBN 3-527-27834-6
Deutsche Bibhothek Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Thin-Layer chromatography reagents and detection methods /
Hellmut Jork — Weinheim , Basel (Switzerland), Cambridge
, New York, NY VCH
NE Jork, Hellmut [Mitverf]
Vol 1 Physical and chemical detection methods
a Fundaments, reagents I — 1990
ISBN 3-527-27834-6 (Weinheim )
ISBN 0-89573-876-7 (New York )
© VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, D-6940 Weinheim (Federal Republic of Germany), 1990
Printed on acid-free paper
All rights reserved (including those of translation into other languages) No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form — by photoprint, microfilm, or any other means — nor transmitted or translated
into a machine language without written permission from the publishers Registered names, trademarks,
etc used in this book, even when not specifically marked as such, are not to be considered unprotented
by law
Composition and Printing Wiesbadener Graphische Betnebe GmbH, D-6200 Wiesbaden
Bookbinding Georg Krankl, D-6148 Heppenheim
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany
Foreword
Thin-layer chromatography as practiced today seems to exist in two forms. Some
scientists consider TLC to be a qualitative separation tool for simple mixtures
where speed, low cost, and simplicity are its virtues. Others regard TLC as a
powerful separation tool for the quantitative analysis of complex mixtures with a
high sample throughput because of parallel sample processing, and as a technique
that can tolerate cruder samples than column methods because the stationary
phase is disposable, and which provides flexibility in the method and choice of
detection since at the time of detection the separation is static and the layer open
to inspection. Both groups of scientists use the same approaches and employ the
same physical principles to achieve a separation, but only the second group does
so in an optimized way. There remains an information gap which good books can
fill to re-educate the scientific community of the current standing of TLC. I am
delighted to affirm that the present book takes a needed step in this direction. As
more scientists become acquainted with the modern practice of TLC they will need
reliable and unbiased sources of information on the mynad of factors that influence
quantitation of TLC chromatograms to avoid common pitfalls that follow in
the wake of any technological advance. From physical principles, to working
instruments, to the methodological requirements of an analytical protocol the
reader will find such information, and just as importantly, experience, distilled
into this book.
It seems to be a fact of life that real samples are too dilute or too complex for
direct analyses no matter what new technology is available simply because the
demand for analytical information is being continuously raised to a higher level.
At this interface chemical intuition has always played an important role. Selective
chemical reactions provide the methods to manipulate a sample to reveal the
information desired. They provide the means to increase the response of an
analyte to a particular detector and increase the selectivity of an analysis by
targeting certain components of the sample to respond to a selected detector.
Micropreparative chemistry and TLC have a long history of association because
of the convenience of these reactions when performed with a static sample and
because in TLC the separation and detection processes can be treated as separate
steps and optimized independently of each other. A further important character
of this book is the practical way it marries chemical and instrumental principles
together providing an integrated source to the most important chemical reactions
available and the details of their application to particular sample types. Until new
detection principles are available, these reactions represent the most practical and,