The TLC analysis provides a means to separate the structures that are present in the sample that was spotted and measure the retention factor to compare amongst the other samples. By spotting the plates as they were, plate one can compare the starting material to the recrystallized product and plate two can compare the starting material to crude product. As seen in Figure 1, the starting material benzoin and the crude product produced one spot. When the two were overlapped, the result was two spots. The eluant traveled 4.8 cm while in the TLC chamber and provided a way to measure the retention factors for how far each spot traveled. Table 1 provides the retention factors and shows that the retention factor generated for benzoin on the first plate was 0.844 and the recrystallized product was 0.533. The mixture of spots located at spot C on the plate produced two marks with Rf factors of 0.844 and 0.644. The similarity seen here is representative of overlap of the spots and is expected to be seen. The spots that share the Rf factor of 0.844 can be identified as benzoin and the second spot can be matched to the recrystallized product. A similar trend was seen in the second plate in that the starting material and crude product produced one spot, where as the mixture produced two. The second plate, however, had Rf factors that were even closer in directly matching the Rf factor of the singular spots. The starting material had an Rf spot of 0.813, which is similar to plate one with the expected difference occurring from the distance travelled by the eluant, and the mixture had an Rf of 0.833. Meanwhile, the crude product had an Rf factor of 0.604 and the mixture had a second Rf value of 0.625. The mixture has Rf values that are slightly higher than the singular spots, but when looking at Figure 1, it appears that the spots from location C have shifted on the paper, which can be explained as that side being exposed to the eluant first. If slight drifting did occur from exposure upon placement in the TLC chamber, then the one side would have been exposed for longer time and have longer time to travel up the paper. Overall, the shifting was not major and the values are close to each other that they are comparable to determine they are the same. The recrystallized product that made spot B on plate one is 0.533 and is lower when compared to the crude product on plate two. The mixture of recrystallized product produces an Rf value of 0.644 that is much more consistent with the crude product results on plate two, 0.604 and 0.625.
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