Question

Comparing the structures of the carotenes to the chlorophylls, which (the carotenes or the chlorophylls) are more polar? Which (the carotenes or the chlorophylls) should you expect to elute off your column first? Is your prediction consistent with your experimental results?

Answer 1

Carotenes are less polar and would elute first.

Step-by-step explanation:

Carotenes are organic compounds like chlorophyll, they are responsible for the orange color in carrot. So, while chlorophyll is green, carotene is orange in color.

In terms of structure, carotene is a hydrocarbon (made up of carbon and hydrogen chains), making it non-polar. On the other hand, chlorophyll (made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, magnesium) is more polar.

Chromatography is a separation technique used to separate two or more mixtures. The working principle is based on how fast each solute travels. So in column chromatography, the components of the mixture travel through a column (e.g a burette) at different speed. The less polar component travels faster.

So far a mixture of carotene and chlorophyll, the less polar carotene will travel faster than the more polar chlorophyll. Therefore, carotene will elute first.