Organic Chem TLC qs

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BornToLead

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If in a 9:1 (Hex:EtOAc) solvent system, spot A travels farther than spot B, then in a 1:9 (EtOAc:Hex) solvent system, will Spot A still travel farther than Spot B? Also, will there be a lesser, greater or the same separation between the two spots?
 
Spot A should travel further than Spot B because only the polarity of the solute matters.

What changes between the 2 solvents is the degree of polarity.
The second solvent (9:1 ETOAc: Hexane) is obviously a lot more polar than the first so it'll interact with the stationary phase more, allowing the other solutes (especially Spot B) to travel more thereby reducing the degree of separation.

So I'd say Spot A travels farther and a smaller degree of separation. Someone correct me if I said anything wrong.
 
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I have extensive real-world experience with TLC, so I can say with certainty: You cannot be sure without more information.

That said, spot A will almost certainly travel farther than spot B in both cases. Flipping the order would be very unusual. Even changing solvents entirely, from pure hexane (very nonpolar) to pure ethanol (fairly polar and protic), is unlikely to flip the order.

Changing the stationary phase is likely to change the order. This is called reversed-phase chromatography. Normal chromatography (especially TLC) uses a polar stationary phase such as silica gel. Reversed-phase chromatography uses a nonpolar and hydrophobic stationary phase, such as C18 or C8. C18 and C8 are silica beads covered in saturated alkyl chains, they are very hydrophobic and nonpolar.

As for separation distance, you cannot predict the effect of changing the ratio of hexane to ethyl acetate. Not without more information. I've separated dozens of mixtures using TLC and (less often) HPLC, and it is very hard to predict what solvent system will give the best separation. There are rules of thumb, but you have to do trial and error.
 
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