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Chromatography: The separation technique of the 20th century

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An essential condition for all fruitful research is to have at one’s disposal a satisfactory technique. “Tout progrès scientific est un progrès de méthode” as somebody once remarked. Unfortunately the methodology is frequently the weakest aspect of scientific investigations.

Summary

M. S. Tswett contemplated the possibility of “chromatography” in 1899–1901 while carrying out his first research work on the physico-chemical structure of plant chlorophylls, and he reported “on a new category of adsorption analysis” in 1903. The evolution of chromatography followed the advances of this century: each decade brought new innovations based logically from the previous one. By the end of the 20th Century chromatography has became the most widely used separation technique in chemistry and biochemistry: thus, it is no exaggeration to call it the separation technique of the 20th Century. This paper investigates the evolution of the various branches of chromatography.

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  1. L. S. Ettre

    Present address: , P. O. Box 6274 Beardsley Station, 06606-0274, Bridgeport, CT, USA

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  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Yale University, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA

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Ettre, L.S. Chromatography: The separation technique of the 20th century. Chromatographia 51, 7–17 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02490689

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