Thin-layer chromatography

And going back to OChem, I'm sure you remember thin layer chromatography, so that's where we will start.

So thin layer chromatography or TLC, shout out waterfalls, is a method used to separate different components of a mixture.

I.e. you have two or three solids in a mixture, you use this to separate them and identify them.

Unlike extraction though, This method doesn't isolate different compounds.

And then you can also use it to confirm the purity of some separation technique.

Maybe you did crystallization and recrystallization and you need to confirm the purity of this technique or this method.

So you can use it for a bunch of different things and it relies on the principle that molecules that are polar will be more attracted to a polar stationary phase and therefore not move as far up a TLC plate.

And before I move on to HPLC, I want to briefly mention a little asterisk I have to what I just talked about.