Chloranilic acid as a reagent in the paper chromatography of the sodium salts of organic acids

Abstract

The authors studied the use of chloranilic acid for the localization of sodium salts of organic acids separated by paper chromatography. Besides avoiding “tailing” of the spots and loss by volatilization of the lower members of the series, the use of sodium salts permits a very high sensitivity, as amounts as low as 0.2 μg of sodium are detectable. Sensitivity in relation to the acids was found to be proportional to the number of neutralized carboxyls and inversely proportional to the number of carbon atoms in the molecule. In the case of nitrogen-containing organic acids the sensitivity was higher than that expected, because chloranilic acid reacts with the N atom.