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TLC stains and visualisation template
Free template. Download it, or open it in MolDraw to change it first.
Ten ways to see a TLC plate (UV 254, iodine, KMnO₄, ninhydrin, PMA, vanillin, p-anisaldehyde, CAM, bromocresol green, 2,4-DNP): recipe, what each stains, the colour and whether to heat, with the stain reagents drawn.
What the template shows
- Recipe, what it shows, the colour you see and whether to heat
- Stains and recipes
- Spot colour
- Silica plate with F₂₅₄ indicator; hand lamp
- Aromatics and conjugated π systems
- Dark spots on green fluorescence
- A few I₂ crystals in a closed jar (with silica)
- Most organics; alkenes, aromatics strongly
- Yellow-brown; fades: circle at once
- KMnO₄ 1.5 g, K₂CO₃ 10 g, 10% NaOH 1.25 mL, H₂O 200 mL
- Oxidisable groups: alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, aldehydes, sulfides
- Yellow on purple-pink
- Ninhydrin 1.5 g in n-BuOH 100 mL + AcOH 3 mL
- Amines, amino acids (Boc-amines on strong heating)
- Pink to purple
- Phosphomolybdic acid 10 g in EtOH 100 mL
- General: alcohols, alkenes, steroids, lipids
- Blue-green to black on yellow-green
- Vanillin 15 g, EtOH 250 mL, conc. H₂SO₄ 2.5 mL
- Alcohols, carbonyls, terpenes, nucleophiles
- Various (blue, purple, red)
- EtOH 135 mL, conc. H₂SO₄ 5 mL, AcOH 1.5 mL, p-anisaldehyde 3.7 mL
- Alcohols, sugars, carbonyls, terpenes
- Various (pink, violet, blue, green)
Drawn with 48 atoms, 11 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.
Sources
How to use this template
- Press Edit in MolDraw. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
- Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the TLC stains and visualisation template free?
Yes. The TLC stains and visualisation template is one of the free MolDraw templates: open it in the editor or download it from this page as SVG or PNG and use it in your slides, worksheets and notes.
Can I edit the TLC stains and visualisation template?
Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.
Is the chemistry checked?
Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.
What is on the solvent properties card?
Boiling point, density, polarity and water miscibility of the common lab solvents.