Chromatography

Chromatography

1. A method for separating and purifying colored compounds using filter paper and a solvent

   • The colors separate if:
     • The pigments have different solubilities in the solvent
     • The pigments have different degrees of attraction for the filter paper

2. Interpretation

   • The dyes in the mixture will separate into different dyes. By comparing them to the pure dyes alongside them, we can tell which dyes the mixture contains;

3. Identifying colorless substances

   • By marking a solvent front after performing chromatography as usual and spraying the compounds with a locating agent (to expose colors), you would calculate how far the spots travelled from the base line to the solvent front
     • This is the R1 value: distance from the base line to the centre of the spot --------------------------- distance of solvent front from the base line
       • After the R1 value has been calculated, it can be compared to tables with known R1 values to identify the compounds

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