Can anybody help me in finding out the most suitable mobile phase solvent for separating plant extract from seeds , bark and leaves on TLC?
methanol/chloroform/hexane (7:2:1, v/v/v) Try for this but it varies with a collection of plant material parts...and which moiety you targeted
There is no one single solvent system suitable for TLC of natural products. This is because natural products occur as a range of compounds, ranging from very non-polar (such as carotenes) to very polar, such as sugars.
If you know what compound(s) you are extracting, use the procedures that have been proven to extract that material.
If the compound is unknown, do a literature search on the plant genus and species so you can see what compounds have been discovered.. Also do a literature search on the biology you are working with, to see what classes of compounds tend to show the biological activity that interests you.
What solvent extracted the active compound? "Like dissolves like", and compounds tend to extract into solvents of similar polarity. You will want to use a gradient for the examples below. I listed the "weak" solvents first, which are used at the start of the gradient.
- Hexane- try hexane/ethyl acetate or hexane/dichloromethane
- Ethyl Acetate- Try hexane/ethyl acetate or dichloromethane/methanol
- Methanol or ethanol: Try dichloromethane/methanol
- Butanol: try dichloromethane/methanol or reverse phase
- Water- try reverse phase
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