WHAT IS SILICA GEL COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY?

A tool primarily used for the separation of products and thus their purication, silica gel column chromatography is a very useful technique in almost all experiments undertaken. The setup involves packing a column of silica gel into a buret stopped with some glass wool or cotton and often sand. Similar to Thin-Layer Chromatography, an eluent will be run through the column which will carry the product through as well. Numerous fractions are collected as the eluent flows through and the presence of product is often determined based on UV lighting.