Question

If you eluted a TLC of a compound using 60% hexanes / 40% ethyl acetate as the solvent and obtained an Rf value of 0.5. If you changed the solvent system to 30% hexanes / 70% ethyl acetate, how would the Rf value change

Answer 1

The Rf value change will be > 0.5

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that Change in Solvent is proportional to change in polarity of solvent system

The change from solvent composition of 60/40 to 30/70 will cause an increase in the polarity of the system .

and Increase in Polarity = Increase in Rf value because the compound will move to a higher distance