Greetings Fellow Chemists!
Several years ago I was a prominent user of these Forums - I would often visit the Organic Chemistry threads to exchange knowledge with fellow students and young academics. It has been a while since I posted anything but I'm keen to make myself available for general chats concerning synthesis and purification.
Chemical synthesis is only half the battle when it comes to completing your projects and exercises in the laboratory - the other half, which becomes increasingly more important as you move from undergraduate to postgraduate studies and beyond, is chemical purification. This isn't always as simple as passing your compound mixture down a column jam-packed with the magic powder that is silica gel 60. Sometimes, your compounds are insoluble or elute at a rate that makes purification difficult. You may have to tweak your solvent system, or change the purification sorbent to a reverse phase silica gel. With dozens of different reverse phases available, how do you know when to choose the right sorbent? How can you predict which purification protocol works best for your compound? Can structural identity provide hints regarding which phases and methods are likely to work?
If you are experiencing difficulties with purification please feel free to contact me. Drop me a line in this thread of send me a private message. Tell me a little about your work, what you are trying to achieve and anything else that is relevant, and I'll do my best to help you out by sharing my knowledge!
I am a PhD graduate in Chemistry. My specialty is conjugated molecules for organic optoelectronic devices, and the years I spent considerable time in the area of chemical purification using silica-based sorbents (both normal and reverse phase chromatography).
Best wishes