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The Chemical Structure Of Lycopene And ?-Carotene ( TLC )

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THEORY Lycopene (C40H56) and β-carotene (C40H56), two carotenoids, are found in tomato paste. Their chemical structure are shown below. Lycopene and β-carotene are separated using thin layer chromatography (TLC). A mixture of tomato paste containing dissolved lycopene and β-carotene is first spotted on a TLC plate. The technique uses a stationary phase layer, on which the substances stick, and a mobile phase, which migrates upwards the plate and carries the components of the mixture with itself (Chemguide). Depending on their respective polarity, lycopene and β-carotene stick more or less to the stationary phase and so they migrate up the TLC plate at different rates (Chemguide). Thus, as the chromatography is completed, the two components will appear as distinct dots at different heights on the plate. Lycopene has a bright orange color, whereas β-carotene is light yellow. Adsorption chromatography occurs when “one substance form[s] some sort of bonds to the surface of another one”, creating intermolecular forces between the two substances (Chemguide). For thin layer chromatography, the components of the mixture are adsorbed onto the stationary phase that covers the plate (Chemguide). The more polar a substance is, the more strongly adsorbed it is (Chemguide) and the strong intermolecular forces then result in a slower rate of migration with respect to the moving phase. As the solvent touches the TLC plate, the solute (mixture) is allowed to move up the TLC plate

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