ABSTRACT
Chromatography as a phenomenon was discovered at the beginning of this century by the Russian botanist Tswett (1), and was first used by him for isolation of plant pigments. The work was not appreciated immediately and was forgotten for about 25 years. However, after "reinvention" of the method by Kuhn and 2Lederer in 1931(2,3), liquid chromatography was fully developed in less than 15 years, including thin-layer and paper chromatography. The chromatographic process was first described mathematically by Wilson in 1940, assuming solute adsorption-desorption equilibria (4). The first mention of physicochemical measurements by gas chromatography (GC) was in 1947, when Glueckauf (5) pointed out the possibility of adsorption isotherms determination by gas-solid chromatography (GSC). Five years later, James and Martin published a classic paper (6) introducing gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). In less than 10 years, this mehod became one of the most widely used analytical techniques. A compilation of personal recollections of the pioneers involved in the development of chromatography has been edited by Ettre and Zlatkis (7).
