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Chromatography |
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Chromatography was first
applied in 1903 by M. Tswett, a Russian botanist, to the separation of plant
pigments using a hydrocarbon solvent and a calcium carbonate stationary
phase. The separation of the colored components led to the name chromatography,
from the Greek word khroma, meaning color.
Chromatography is a very powerful technique used by chemists and biologists to separate and purify complex mixtures of compounds. Today, column chromatography is most often used for purifying the products of chemical reactions and separating them from impurities or byproducts of the chemical reactions. For example: Suppose I have a mixture of the following components: A + B + C + D + E + F + G How would I separate component C out of the mixture??? This mixture is too complex for other methods of separation (e.g. extraction) so one could use... column chromatography |