ABSTRACT
Chromatography is probably the most powerful and versatile analytical technique available to the modem chemist. Its power arises from its capacity to determine quantitatively many individual components present in a mixture in one, single analytical procedure. Its versatility comes from its capacity to handle a very wide variety of samples, that may be gaseous, liquid or solid in nature. In addition, the sample can range in complexity from a single substance to a multicomponent mixture containing widely differing chemical species. Another aspect of the versatility of the technique is that the analysis can be carried out, at one extreme, on a very costly and complex instrument, and at the other, on a simple, inexpensive thin layer plate.
The unique character of the chromatographic method that makes it so useful arises from the dual nature of its function. Chromatography is, in fact, a combined separating and measuring system. The sample is first separated into its individual components and then, by the use of a sensor with a quantitative response, the quantity of each component present can be measured.
