Scribd
Upload
24 views

Chromatography Lab - Official

Lab report for Organic Chemistry 2202

Uploaded by

irambonapstpatrice
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
24 views

Chromatography Lab - Official

Lab report for Organic Chemistry 2202

Uploaded by

irambonapstpatrice
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Chromatographic Separation of o- and p-nitroaniline

Chromatography is a separation technique used to separate components of a mixture based on the

differential interactions of each component with a stationary phase and a mobile phase. The stationary phase is a

solid or a liquid supported on a solid, while the mobile phase is a liquid or gas. Components in the mixture interact

differently with these two phases, leading to separation as they move at different rates.

We used Thin-Layer Chromatography, which involves the use of a thin layer of stationary phase coated

onto a metal plate to separate the mixture of o-nitroaniline and p-nitroaniline. By comparing the effects of different

solvents on a TLC plate, the mixture of Cyclohexane and ethyl acetate was the best mobile phase to separate o- and

p-nitroaniline (Rf: 0.455, 0.606) due to differences in polarity due to the proximity of the functional groups and

intramolecular hydrogen bonding. In p-nitroaniline, the nitro group and the amino group are on opposite sides of the

benzene ring, causing dipole-dipole interactions but preventing intramolecular hydrogen bonding, which results in

the compound being more polarized than o-nitroaniline. In o-nitroaniline, the nitro group and the amino group are

adjacent to each other, allowing for intramolecular hydrogen bonding along with dipole-dipole moments, making it

less polar. The less polar compounds travel further up on the TLC plate and, thus, have higher Rf values. Therefore,

o-nitroaniline, being less polar, had a higher Rf value than p-nitroaniline.

Figure 1. Results for Experiment 2A: showing 𝑅𝑓 values of the mixture of o- and p-nitroaniline in different eluents.

Mobile Phase Spot colors Distance traveled Solvent front 𝑅𝐹 Values


observed (mm) by solute (mm) distance (mm)

Cyclohexane 1 yellow spot 1.5 64.0 0.0234

Acetone 1 yellow spot 50.0 64.0 0.781

Ethyl Acetate 1 yellow spot 43.0 64.0 0.672

50-50 Cyclohexane 2 yellow spots 30.0, 40.0 66.0 0.455, 0.606


and Ethyl acetate

50-50 Cyclohexane 2 yellow spots 43.0, 45.0 67.0 0.606, 0.672


and Acetone

Notice how 50-50 Cyclohexane and Acetate produced a large difference in Rf values of o- and p-nitroaniline than

50-50 cyclohexane and acetone; showing effective separation.


Figure 2. Results from Experiment 2B. 𝑅𝑓 Values of o- and p-nitroaniline in an eluent of 50-50Cyclohexane and
ethyl acetate.

Mobile Phase Spot colors Distance traveled Solvent front 𝑅𝐹 Values


(50-50 observed (mm) by solute (mm) distance (mm)
Cyclohexane)

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛1 2 yellow spot 35.0, 48.0 61.0 0.583, 0.787

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛2 2 yellow spot 35.0, 48.0 61.0 0.583, 0.787

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛3 2 yellow spot 35.0, 48.0 61.0 0.583, 0.787

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛4 2 yellow spot 35.0, 48.0 61.0 0.583, 0.787

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛5 1 yellow spots 35.0 61.0 0.583

𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛5 Showed a pure extraction (only one spot). Fractions 1-4 show two spots, the one traveling higher being
o-nitroaniline and the lower one being p-nitroaniline.

𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛5 Contains only one solute, whilst 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠1−4 contains both solutes. P-nitroaniline is more

polar compared to o-nitroaniline. It is thus reasonable to conclude that p-nitroaniline will have low Rf values, whilst

o-nitroaniline will have high Rf values. Therefore, 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛5 contains p-nitroaniline, whilst fractions 1-4 contain

both o- and p-nitroaniline.

NB: all TLC images are provided here

You might also like