Chapter 6 Stabilizing a TLC separation illustrated by a mixture of several street drugs

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a thin layer chromatography (TLC) that is a valuable analytical technique. Optimization of TLC is therefore, of the highest importance and subject of many studies. This chapter presents the optimization methods. The aim of such optimizations is to find a mobile-phase composition at which a good separation of all solutes is possible. However, not only the mobile phase has influence on the retention time, but also the temperature and the relative humidity. There are several approaches toward the optimization of TLC separations. Temperature and relative humidity cause problems because they are difficult to control except when special equipment is used. The variation depends on the weather and the quality of the climate control, but they do vary. Their effect on the retention is different for different solutes, therefore, the resolution can change. The used optimization method is acceptable. The approach where first the data is measured, after which the whole separation problem is analyzed allows for rapid evaluation of a multitude of compositions.