[twaltz]

I can't really find the "right" place for a question like this, so I will rely on the goodwill of those on the boards and apologize if this is the wrong place.

I'm translating a chemistry patent from Chinese to English and the procedure for preparing a number of compounds ends in the use of a column. I'm just not sure how to express that in English. Here's the basic procedure:

"(c) Reflux compound 11 in 6N hydrochloric acid 3-6h, neutralize with base, extract with ethyl acetate, dry and concentrate, apply to column, to obtain compound 12; said base is sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide;"

Right now I'm using "apply to column" as a placeholder, but can someone tell me how a real chemist would express this? The Chinese literally says "pass column" for this meaning.

[Dan]

This refers to the purification thechnique column chromatography - most likely they mean flash column chromatography on silica gel (but there is insufficient information to be sure).

[Arkcon]

"Apply to column" is a correct way to describe what's done.  You don't just drop, or dump a compound on a prepared column, or you'll disturb the top and get bad results.  Chemists do "apply" or "layer" the mixture to be purified at the top of the column before they, likewise, layer the eluent to push final product (and impurities) off the column.  You could also follow the literal Chinese, and just say "pass through the column" or "run the column."  If the rest of the procedure describes the column, its contents, and the eluent to use, it should be clear what to do for a chemist.

[twaltz]

Thanks so much!

I do remember about column chromatography from (very ancient) chemistry courses I've taken, but I couldn't get the wording correct.

This is a great help. 

[fledarmus]

Usually the description is "purified by ___ chromatography through ____ using ____"

for example, "purified by column chromatography through silica gel using 0-5% MeOH/CHCl₃"

"apply to column" may be an appropriate description, but that isn't the way it is used in procedures for publication