A Toolkit to Quantify Target Compounds in Thin-Layer-Chromatography Experiments

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is
one of the basic analytical
procedures in chemistry and allows the demonstration of various chemical
principles in an educational setting. An often-overlooked aspect of
TLC is the capability to quantify isolated target compounds in an
unknown sample. Here, we present a suitable route to implement quantitative
analysis in a lesson plan. We provide both a stand-alone software
and an online webapp that allow students to obtain quantitative information
from a developed TLC plate and present two suitable experiments, namely,
the absorbance-based quantification of the colorant Sudan IV and the
fluorescence-based quantification of rhodamine 6G, a fluorophore widely
used in biotechnology. Students conduct TLC experiments following
established protocols, take pictures of their TLC plates with
mobile phones, and subsequently quantify the different compounds
in the separate bands they observe.

薄层色谱法（Thin-layer chromatography, TLC）是化学领域的基础分析手段之一，可在教学场景中展现各类化学原理。该方法一个常被忽视的特性，是可对未知样品中的分离目标化合物进行定量分析。本研究提出了一种可在教学方案中落实定量分析的可行路径：我们提供了独立软件与在线网页应用两款工具，支持学生从展开后的薄层色谱板中获取定量信息；同时展示了两个适配的教学实验，分别是基于吸光度的着色剂苏丹IV（Sudan IV）定量分析，以及基于荧光的罗丹明6G（Rhodamine 6G）定量分析——罗丹明6G是一种在生物技术中广泛应用的荧光团。学生可按照既定实验方案开展薄层色谱实验，使用手机拍摄自制的薄层色谱板照片，随后对观测到的分离条带中的各类化合物进行定量分析。