Sci Paper Chromatography
Sci Paper Chromatography
Sci Paper Chromatography
Encina, Erika G.
Fransisco, Sharmaine Joy C.
Garcia, Vincent Luis J.
Mapesos, Matthew Brandon G.
Pagayon, Daniel R.
Group 1 XI - STEM
__________________
A scientific paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in General
Chemistry laboratory under Mr. Fernando Desacola Rocapor-Posos Fabia Jr., 1 st sem.,
2016-2017.
ABSTRACT
Biological pigments found in plants whose main function are
to create food with the help of abiotic materials can be separated
from one another through the use of paper chromatography.
Chlorophyll, along with xanthophyll, plays a vital role in this
process. During photosynthesis, a process by which plants use
sunlight to manufacture foods from carbon dioxide and water, the
green pigment (chlorophyll) allows plant to absorb energy from the
sun while the yellow pigment (xanthophyll) plays an important
function as accessory pigments. Xanthophyll captures certain
wavelengths of sunlight not absorbed by chlorophylls. This results
to an increase in overall absorbance of the visible spectrum of
sunlight. Chromatography is a separation method that uses the
diversity of dissolved substances in terms of their degree of
attraction with a mobile phase and stationary phase. In this
experiment, the students separated the chloroplast pigments from
the leaves particularly of the San Francisco plant (Codiaeum
variegatum) by doing paper chromatography. With the use of filter
paper as the stationary phase and the mixture of alcohol and
acetone as the mobile phase, they successfully split the pigments
of the plant which are mainly chlorophyll and xanthophyll.
INTRODUCTION
Living organisms, especially plants, are known to produce substances called
biological pigments which are due to the organisms selective color absorption. In
autotrophs, the main function of these pigments is for food-making.
Chromatography is the separation of compounds by the differences in the way
those compounds interact with the separation environment. It is a resolution technique
that depends on the solubility differences of the components of a mixture in a given
solvent (General Inorganic Chemistry 1, pp. 61). It involves passing a mixture dissolved
in a "mobile phase" through a stationary phase, which separates the component of the
mixture to be measured from other molecules in the mixture and allows it to be isolated.
Separation can be effected by many different means including everything from high-tech
polymer-based resins to electric potentials to simple paper. These separations generally
take place in some sort of liquid for the mobile phase though some techniques involve
separation in gas. Chromatography is an area of science that many people have not
heard of but it is used in everything from pharmaceutical manufacturing to power
generation to genome sequencing. In most science applications chromatography is
used to separate components in a mixture either for analysis or for further use. An
example of the use of chromatography is the measurement of the amount of an active
ingredient in a pharmaceutical product. This separation might be done using revered
phase chromatography and UV detection in an organic solvent. The driving force behind
this separation is capillary action of the water wicking through the paper (General
Electronic Company, 2009).
Since chromatography splits the pigments of compounds, pigments within leaves
are also believed to be separable through the same process. In this experiment, the
students used filter paper as their chromatography media or stationary phase and
mixture of alcohol and acetone as their liquid or mobile phase to separate the different
pigments of San Francisco leaves. This test was designed to determine the pigments
that make up the leaves of San Francisco. Also, the pigments are presumed to go
upward and separate itself from the additional solvent added in. This was conducted at
the Science Laboratory of Sto. Rosario Sapang Palay College High School Department.
in
the
ways
the
compounds
interact
with
one
another. Paper
chromatography is one simple way of color separation by just using everyday materials
like alcohol, acetone and a paper. This experiment gives insights to what pigments
multi-colored leaves are composed of. The initial data from chromatography can lead to
many other experiments and connections made between photosynthesis and leaf
pigmentation.
LITERATURE CITED
Engr. Dimayacyac, M.D., Engr. D. Grace, Engr. E.E. Delena, Engr. R. Gasendo,
Engr. R. Pimentel, Prof. A. Bayquean, Prof. C. Centeno. 2015. General Inorganic
Chemistry 1. 1st ed. Espana, Manila:,University of Santo Tomas. pp. 61
General Electric Company (2009) Paper Chromatography With Standards [Online]
Available:
(http://www.ge.com/press/scienceworkshop/docs/pdf/Paper_Chromatography_wit
h_Standards.pdf) [2016, August 4]. (Date accessed)