Question

A mixture of lipids is applied to a silica gel column, and the column is then washed with increasingly polar solvents. Arrange the lipids in order of elution by placing the first lipid to eluted at the top.

Answer 1

Answer:

In Neutral lipids there are triglycerides

diglycerides

monoglycerides

free fatty acids

cholesterol

cholesterol esters...

hexane/diethyl eter/ acetic acid (70:30:1 and others) is a good elutant mixture to separate them. Other combinations are needed for phospholipids separation...look for "thin layer chromatography silica gel" articles, there are plenty of reviews and plenty of elutant mixtures and the conditions for silica columns are quite similar.