TLC Plates

TLC Plates

Thin layer chromatography is the initial tool for the characterization and separation of many organic compounds. This analytical technique is essential for the identification, separation and purification of substances having useful biological activity.

Dynamic Adsorbents’ technology and experience has resulted in one of the broadest TLC-HPTLC-”S” HPTLC programs in the global scientific community. Plates manufactured by DAI incorporate refined silica gels, aluminas, cellulose and PEI cellulose. The materials layered upon the plates are offered in both normal and reverse phase. What makes DAI TLC plates special is that we use the best alumina and silica gels in the industry, and have independent verification of such claims to prove our point. Additionally we supply these same materials in a broad variety of custom tailored layer and plate types.

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is among the most useful tools for following the progress of organic chemical reactions and for assaying the purity of organic compounds. To this day, TLC remains the simplest, quickest, and least inexpensive procedure providing chemists and separation scientists with a quick answer for determining how many components are contained in a mixture.

In this regard, TLC is truly a quick, inexpensive microscale technique that can be used to:

  • determine the number of components in a mixture
  • verify a substance’s identity
  • monitor the progress of a reaction
  • determine appropriate conditions for column chromatography
  • analyze the fractions obtained from column chromatography

TLC plates routinely contain a fluorescent indicator allowing TLC plates to glow green under ultraviolet (UV) light of wavelength 254 nm. Compounds which absorb UV light will quench the green fluorescence yielding dark purple or bluish spots on the plate. Simply put the plate under a UV lamp, and the compounds become visible to the naked eye.

TLC requires only a few nanograms (ng) of sample for a successful analysis and can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. Like all chromatographic methods, TLC takes advantage of the different affinity of the analyte with the mobile and stationary phases allowing separation of complex mixtures of organic molecules. Since only a few micrograms of material in solution are necessary to observe the solute on a TLC plate this process, unlike many other separation methods, is truly a microscale technique.

Shop TLC Plates Online