DEVELOPMENT CHAMBERS FOR THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME

• US 20200132643A1
• Filed: 10/24/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sorbent Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sorbent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Kerr, Robert Ralph
• Granted Patent: US 11,221,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/90 Plate chromatography, e.g. thin layer or paper chromatography
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/92 Construction of the plate
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/94 Development

Abstract

Development chambers suitable for use in thin layer chromatography are disclosed. Methods of making and using development chambers in thin layer chromatography are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A development chamber 14 comprising:

a chamber base member 30 having a base member upper surface 21; and

a chamber body 16 that extends above said chamber base member 30 such that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16 and said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of said development chamber 14,

wherein said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 comprises a well 23 extending below and into said base member upper surface 21, said well 23 having (a) well dimensions that (i) enable a bottom end 111 of a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate 11 to be positioned therein, and (ii) house at least a portion of a mobile phase/solvent 17 when inputted into said well 23, and (b) a maximum well cross-sectional area W_A that is less than 80% of a maximum interior cross-sectional area of said chamber body 16 extending substantially parallel with an open end 124 of said chamber body 16.

4. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16 and said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 completely surround said chamber volume 25 of said development chamber 14 except for one or more optional vent holes 141, when present, extending through chamber body 16.

11. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said well 23 has a well length W_L, a well width W_W, and a well depth W_D, with the well length W_L being greater than the well width W_W;

and wherein said well length W_L ranges from about 1.0 centimeters (cm) to about 50 cm, said well width W_W ranges from about 0.8 cm to about 20 cm, and said well depth W_D ranges from about 0.5 cm to about 2.0 cm.

12. The development chamber 14 of claim 11, wherein said well 23 has (i) a rear well wall 231 extending along said well length W_L, (ii) a front well wall 232 extending along said well length W_L opposite said rear well wall 231, (iii) opposing side well walls 233/234 extending between said a rear well wall 231 and said front well wall 232, (iv) a bottom well wall 235 extending outward from said rear well wall 231 towards said front well wall 232, and (v) a front well wall extension 236 extending along said well length W_L opposite said rear well wall 231 and downward from said front well wall 232 so as to intersect with said bottom well wall 235.

13. The development chamber 14 of claim 12, wherein said rear well wall 231 is angularly configured relative to vertically extending line 238, forming an angle A with said a vertically extending line 238 with angle A being less than about 20°

.

14. The development chamber 14 of claim 13, wherein said angle A ranges from about 6.0 to about 12.0°

.

15. The development chamber 14 of claim 14, wherein said front well wall 232 is angularly configured relative to a horizontally extending line 239, forming an angle B with said horizontally extending line 239 with angle B being greater than about 15°

.

16. The development chamber 14 of claim 15, wherein said angle B ranges from about 20.0°

to about 45.0°

.

17. The development chamber 14 of claim 16, wherein said bottom well wall 235 has a bottom well wall width B_W that is greater than a height H_P of a TLC plate 11.

18. The development chamber 14 of claim 17, wherein said bottom well wall width B_W ranges from about 0.12 cm to about 0.35 cm.

19. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said well 23 has a well volume W_V of less than 10 cc.

20. The development chamber 14 of claim 19, wherein said well volume W_V ranges from about 0.5 cc to about 8.0 cc.

21. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said maximum well cross-sectional area W_A is less than 50% of a maximum interior cross-sectional area of said chamber body 16 extending substantially parallel with an open end 124 of said chamber body 16.

22. The development chamber 14 of claim 21, wherein said maximum well cross-sectional area W_A is less than 10% of a maximum interior cross-sectional area of said chamber body 16 extending substantially parallel with an open end 124 of said chamber body 16.

23. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said well 23 enables one or more TLC plates 11 to be supported therein so that each of the one or more TLC plates 11 does not come into contact with any of said one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16.

24. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said base member upper surface 21 is surrounded by an upward-extending base wall 31, and a lower edge 161 of said chamber body 16 is sized and configured to fit within and along said upward-extending base wall 31 of said chamber base member 30.

25. The development chamber 14 of claim 1, wherein said development chamber 14 consists of (1) said chamber base member 30 and (2) said chamber body 16.

28. A thin layer chromatography (TLC) assembly/kit 10 comprising the development chamber 14 of claim 1, and one or more of:

(i) one or more TLC plates 11, (ii) one or more solvents 17, (iii) one or more absorbent wipes, (iv) one or more plastic bags, or any combination of (i) to (iv).

29. A method of making the development chamber 14 of claim 1, said method comprising:

forming the chamber base member 30 having base member upper surface 21, wherein the base member upper surface 21 of the chamber base member 30 comprises a well 23 extending below and into the base member upper surface 21, the well 23 having well dimensions that (i) enable a bottom end 111 of a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate 11 to be positioned therein, and (ii) house at least a portion of a mobile phase/solvent 17 when inputted into the well 23.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

forming a chamber body 16 that extends above the chamber base member 30 such that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of the chamber body 16 and the base member upper surface 21 of the chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of the development chamber 14.

31. A method of using the development chamber 14 of claim 1, said method comprising:

positioning a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate 11 within the well 23 of the chamber base member 30 so that the TLC plate 11 extends upward and out of the well 23.

2. A development chamber 14 comprising:

a chamber base member 30 having a base member upper surface 21; and

a chamber body 16 that extends above said chamber base member 30 such that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16 and said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of said development chamber 14,

wherein said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 comprises a well 23 extending below and into said base member upper surface 21, said well 23 having (a) well dimensions that (i) enable a bottom end 111 of a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate 11 to be positioned therein, and (ii) house at least a portion of a mobile phase/solvent 17 when inputted into said well 23, and (b) a well volume W_V of less than 10.0 cubic centimeters (cc).

3. A development chamber 14 comprising:

a chamber base member 30 having a base member upper surface 21, wherein said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 comprises a well 23 extending below and into said base member upper surface 21, said well 23 having (a) well dimensions that (i) enable a bottom end 111 of a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate 11 to be positioned therein, and (ii) house at least a portion of a mobile phase/solvent 17 when inputted into said well 23, and (b) a maximum well cross-sectional area W_A that is less than 80% of a maximum interior cross-sectional area of a chamber body 16 at an open end of a chamber body, the chamber body sized to extend above the chamber base member such that one or more inner wall surfaces of the chamber body and the base member upper surface of the chamber base member at least partially surround a chamber volume of the development chamber when used in combination.

5. The development chamber 14 of claim 3, further comprising:

a chamber body 16 that extends above said chamber base member 30 such that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16 and said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of said development chamber 14.

6. The development chamber 14 of claim 5, wherein said chamber body 16 also extends below at least a portion of (or all of) said chamber base member 30 such that said chamber base member 30 is positioned along a lower inner surface 24 of said chamber body 16.

7. The development chamber 14 of claim 6, further comprising:

a chamber lid 15, wherein said one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of said chamber body 16, an upper inner surface 224 of said chamber body 16, said base member upper surface 21 of said chamber base member 30, and said chamber lid 15 surround the chamber volume 25 of said development chamber 14.

8. The development chamber 14 of claim 3, wherein said chamber base member 30 further comprises one or more positioning elements 26 along a lower base member surface 29 of said chamber base member 30, said one or more positioning elements 26 being engageable with one or more corresponding positioning elements 36 positioned along an upper inner surface 224 of said chamber body 16.

9. The development chamber 14 of claim 8, wherein said one or more positioning elements 26 comprise a channel 26′

extending along lower surface 29 of said chamber body 16.

10. The development chamber 14 of claim 9, wherein said one or more corresponding positioning elements 36 comprise a bumper 28 positioned along upper inner surface 224 of said chamber body 16, said bumper 28 being sized to fit within channel 26′

of said chamber body 16.

26. The development chamber 14 of claim 3, wherein said development chamber 14 consists of (1) said chamber base member 30, (2) said chamber body 16, and optionally (3) a chamber lid 15.

27. The development chamber 14 of claim 7, wherein said development chamber 14 consists of (1) said chamber base member 30, (2) said chamber body 16, and (3) said chamber lid 15.

32. The method of claim 40, further comprising one or more of:

inputting a solvent 17 into the well 23 of the chamber base member 30; and

positioning a chamber body 16 over the chamber base member 30 and the TLC plate 11 so that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of the chamber body 16 and the base member upper surface 21 of the chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of the development chamber 14 and the TLC plate 11 positioned within the development chamber 14.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of the chamber body 16 and the base member upper surface 21 of the chamber base member 30 completely surround a chamber volume 25 of the development chamber 14 and the TLC plate 11 positioned within the reduced volume development chamber 14 except for one or more optional vent holes 141, when present, extending through chamber body 16.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

positioning the chamber base member 30 within a chamber body 16 so that one or more inner wall surfaces 22 of the chamber body 16 and the base member upper surface 21 of the chamber base member 30 at least partially surround a chamber volume 25 of the development chamber 14 and the TLC plate 11 positioned within the development chamber 14.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said positioning the chamber base member 30 step comprises:

aligning one or more positioning elements 26 along a lower base member surface 29 of the chamber base member 30 with one or more corresponding positioning elements 36 positioned along an upper inner surface 224 of said chamber body 16; and

lowering the chamber base member 30 onto the one or more corresponding positioning elements 36.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

placing a chamber lid 15 onto an upper edge 151 of the chamber body 16 so as to enclose the chamber volume 25 within the TLC plate 11 therein.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein said method utilizes less than about 10 milliliters (ml) of solvent 17 for a thin layer chromatography (TLC) procedure.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein said method utilizes less than about 5.0 ml of solvent 17 for a thin layer chromatography (TLC) procedure.