Comparison of Mobile Phases for Separation and Quantification of Lipids by One-Dimensional TLC on Preadsorbent High Performance Silica Gel Plates

Twenty-four solvent systems reported in the literature for the one-dimensional TLC separation of lipids and phospholipids were compared under identical conditions using high performance preadsorbent silica gel plates. The best overall separation of mixtures of neutral lipid and phospholipid standards and compounds extracted from the digestive gland-gonad complex of Biomphalaria glabrata snails was obtained with a system utilizing consecutive development with chloroform-methanol-water (65:25:4), chloroform-hexane (3:1), and carbon tetrachloride. The best system for quantification of neutral lipids was hexane-diethyl ether-formic acid (80:20:2). Rf data are tabulated and results discussed for all systems tested.