Question

Are there TLC stains that work with fluoride or with organofluor compounds? I have a fluorinated phosphonic acid that does not stain with conventional means. I did research in many of the known and available staining resources, but I did not find something reliable yet. KMnO4, Phosphomolybdic Acid (PMA) Stain and Cerium Molybdate Stain, p-anisaldehyde as well as Vanilla stain did appear not to work. Do you have experiences here? For me I was not able to see an unambiguously contrast to the background. Maybe there is also a protocol that decomposes an organofluor compound beforehand and makes fluoride visible on TLC? I performed many tests but nothing was really convincing until now. I know that a protocol for qualitative prove of F- uses chromic acid and the discoloration of alizarin dye - but this system is probably not applicable for TLCs.

Answer 1

There is a protocol that can be used to make fluoride visible on TLC for qualitative detection of F-. However, a reliable and effective staining resource for fluorinated phosphonic acid on TLC may not be readily available.

Step-by-step explanation:

Organofluor compounds are known to be challenging to detect with conventional TLC stains. Stains such as KMnO4, Phosphomolybdic Acid (PMA) Stain, and Cerium Molybdate Stain do not work well for this purpose.

However, there is a protocol that can be used to make fluoride visible on TLC. It involves decomposing the organofluor compound beforehand and using a chromic acid and alizarin dye system for qualitative detection of F-.

This protocol may be applicable for your specific compound. It is important to note that a reliable and effective staining resource for fluorinated phosphonic acid on TLC may not be readily available.