Development chambers for thin layer chromatography and methods of making and using the same

11221,317

16/662534

October 24, 2019

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.

Sorbent Technologies, Inc. (Norcross, GA, US)

SORBENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (Norcross, GA, US)

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), 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, and 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 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).

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), and 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 (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).

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 (124) of the chamber body (16), the chamber body (16) sized to extend 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) when used in combination, 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 (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).

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 said chamber body (16).

5. The development chamber (14) of claim 3 , wherein said chamber body (16) extends above said chamber base member (30) such that 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) at least partially surround said 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 said chamber base member (30).

7. The development chamber (14) of claim 1 , wherein said rear well wall (231) is angularly configured relative to a vertically extending line (238), forming an angle (A) with said vertically extending line (238) with angle (A) being less than about 20°.

8. The development chamber (14) of claim 7 , wherein said angle (A) ranges from about 6.0 to about 12.0°.

9. The development chamber (14) of claim 8 , 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°.

10. The development chamber (14) of claim 9 , wherein said angle (B) ranges from about 20.0° to about 45.0°.

11. The development chamber (14) of claim 10 , wherein said bottom well wall (235) has a bottom well wall width (B W) that is greater than a height (H P) of the TLC plate (11).

12. The development chamber (14) of claim 11 , wherein said bottom well wall width (B W) ranges from about 0.12 cm to about 0.35 cm.

13. The development chamber (14) of claim 1 , wherein said well (23) has a well volume (W V) of less than 10 cc.

14. The development chamber (14) of claim 13 , wherein said well volume (W V) ranges from about 0.5 cc to about 8.0 cc.

15. 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 said open end (124) of said chamber body (16).

16. The development chamber (14) of claim 15 , wherein said maximum well cross-sectional area (W A) is less than 10% of said maximum interior cross-sectional area of said chamber body (16) extending substantially parallel with said open end (124) of said chamber body (16).

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

18. 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).

19. 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).

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

21. A thin layer chromatography (TLC) assembly/kit (10) comprising the development chamber (14) of claim 1 , and one or more of: (i) said TLC plate (11), (ii) said mobile phase/solvent (17), (iii) one or more absorbent wipes, (iv) one or more plastic bags, or (v) any combination of (i) to (iv).

22. A method of making the development chamber (14) of claim 1 , said method comprising: forming the chamber base member (30) having said base member upper surface (21), wherein the base member upper surface (21) of the chamber base member (30) comprises said well (23) extending below and into the base member upper surface (21), the well (23) having well dimensions that (i) enable said bottom end (111) of said thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate (11) to be positioned therein, and (ii) house at least a portion of said mobile phase/solvent (17) when inputted into the well (23).

23. The method of claim 22 , further comprising: forming said chamber body (16) that extends above the chamber base member (30) such that said 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 said chamber volume (25) of the development chamber (14).

24. A method of using the development chamber (14) of claim 1 , said method comprising: positioning said 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).

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising one or more of: inputting said mobile phase/solvent (17) into the well (23) of the chamber base member (30); and positioning said chamber body (16) over the chamber base member (30) and the TLC plate (11) so that said 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 said chamber volume (25) of the development chamber (14) and the TLC plate (11) positioned within the development chamber (14).

26. The method of claim 25 , 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 said chamber volume (25) of the development chamber (14) and the TLC plate (11) positioned within the chamber volume (25) of the development chamber (14) except for one or more optional vent holes (141), when present, extending through chamber body (16).

27. The method of claim 25 , further comprising: positioning the chamber base member (30) within said chamber body (16) so that said 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 said chamber volume (25) of the development chamber (14) and the TLC plate (11) positioned within the development chamber (14).

28. The method of claim 25 , wherein said method utilizes less than about 10 milliliters (ml) of said mobile phase/solvent (17) for a thin layer chromatography (TLC) procedure.

29. The method of claim 25 , wherein said method utilizes less than about 5.0 ml of said mobile phase/solvent (17) for a thin layer chromatography (TLC) procedure.

30. The development chamber (14) of claim 3 , wherein said rear well wall (231) is angularly configured relative to a vertically extending line (238), forming an angle (A) with said vertically extending line (238) with angle (A) being less than about 20°.

31. The development chamber (14) of claim 30 , 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°.

32. The development chamber (14) of claim 31 , wherein said angle (A) ranges from about 6.0 to about 12.0°, and said angle (B) ranges from about 20.0° to about 45.0°.

33. The development chamber (14) of claim 32 , wherein said well length (W L) ranges from about 1.0 cm to about 50 cm, said well width (W W) ranges from about 0.8 cm to about 20 cm, said well depth (W D) ranges from about 0.5 cm to about 2.0 cm, and said bottom well wall (235) has a bottom well wall width (B W) (i) that is greater than a height (H P) of the TLC plate (11), and (ii) ranges from about 0.12 cm to about 0.35 cm.

34. The development chamber (14) of claim 2 , wherein (i) said rear well wall (231) is angularly configured relative to a vertically extending line (238), forming an angle (A) with said vertically extending line (238) with angle (A) being less than about 20°, and (ii) 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°.

35. A method of using the development chamber (14) of claim 2 , said method comprising: positioning said 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).

36. A method of using the development chamber (14) of claim 3 , said method comprising: positioning said 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).

37. A thin layer chromatography (TLC) assembly/kit (10) comprising the development chamber (14) of claim 2 , and one or more of: (i) said TLC plate (11), (ii) one or more solvents (17), (iii) one or more absorbent wipes, (iv) one or more plastic bags, or (v) any combination of (i) to (iv).

38. A thin layer chromatography (TLC) assembly/kit (10) comprising the development chamber (14) of claim 3 , and one or more of: (i) said TLC plate (11), (ii) one or more solvents (17), (iii) one or more absorbent wipes, (iv) one or more plastic bags, or (v) any combination of (i) to (iv).

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