[Babcock_Hall]

Suppose we use DMF, DMSO, or something similar as a reaction solvent.  If we hope to follow the reaction by TLC, is there a convenient way to remove the solvent?  If not, is there a way to deal with its presence.  If it has greater polarity than the TLC developing solvent, it is surely going to be a problem, unless I am missing something.

[kriggy]

You could use hair dryer to evaporate the solvent, also, I never spot the reaction mixture but I dilute it with something volatile (methanol, acetone) then spot it and then dry. No problem for me. But my reaction are done in more volatile solvents

[TheUnassuming]

For the high boiling solvents I usually put TLC plates under high-vac for a few minutes after spotting.  Not a perfect fix depending on the reaction, but generally works well enough to see whats going on. 

[Dan]

I also put the plate under high vac. I don't like heating the plate in case it causes degradation.

For DMF and DMSO I sometimes do a mini workup: partition one drop of the reaction mixture between ~100 uL brine and ~100 uL of ether or EtOAc and TLC the organic layer. 

[Babcock_Hall]

Great suggestions.  Thank you.