Syringe Suction Flash Chromatography: a Safe Alternative to Traditional Flash Chromatography and Applications to Undergraduate Organic Laboratory Experiments

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 21 (2016) pp 129-132

Syringe Suction Flash Chromatography: a Safe Alternative to Traditional Flash Chromatography and Applications to Undergraduate Organic Laboratory Experiments

Jenny M. Baxter Vu*^,† Phong Vu^‡, and Gloria de la Garza^†

^†Valdosta State University, Department of Chemistry, Valdosta, GA 31698, jbvu@valdosta.edu;^‡Florida State University, Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Tallahassee, FL 32306
Received July 2, 2015. Accepted August 5, 2015.

Published: 20 June 2016

Abstract. The purification of compounds by column chromatography is a fundamental skill to the organic chemist. Traditionally, students have little exposure to purification of compounds with this method due to safety, time, and/or equipment restraints. A procedure for the rapid purification of compounds by silica gel chromatography that negates the need for students to handle silica gel and the necessity for high pressure is disclosed in this report. Applications to the separation of components from paprika extraction and the purification of borneol and isoborneol from the reduction of camphor are also included. Syringe Suction Flash Chromatography (SSFC) is a highly efficient technique and is expected to find a variety of uses in the undergraduate organic laboratory as it is safe, inexpensive, and widely applicable.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; organic chemistry; column chromatography; hands-on activity; camphor reduction; paprika extraction; separation techniques

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: jbvu@valdosta.edu )

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