What is the Purpose of Chromatography?

Finding, isolating, and characterizing medicines derived from nature is a major sub-discipline within chemistry. One often-used technique for isolating potential medicinals is called chromatography – this is a process that separates similar molecules in a mixture.

Early methods separated molecules by color, so scientists called the process, ‘chromatography.’ How is this technique useful?

Chromatography Uses: Drugs From Food

An instance of a potential ‘drug’ isolated from food came from red wine in the 1990s. The substance known as resveratrol gained widespread acclaim as the possible ‘drug.’

Resveratrol was a part of the French paradox — how can people ingest rich, high calorie foods accompanied with a hearty Bordeaux or Pinot Noir wine without increasing their risk of a heart attack or stroke?

The paradox puzzled researchers, and identifying resveratrol as a preventative agent for heart disease was a stroke of scientific genius.

Resveratrol and chemically-similar compounds occur in wine grapes and are classified as phenolic stilbenes, substances which result from plant biochemistry. The eventual isolation of resveratrol via chromatography resulted in isolating other similar molecules of importance.

What are Phenolic Stilbenes–or Polyphenols?

The term stilbene originates from the german, stilbein~ to phosphoresce. The original discovery of the ‘stilbene class’ of molecules came in the late 1800s and was named as such because the molecule possessed a peculiar glow. Presently, theoreticians regard the molecule as rather mundane, except for the biochemical properties that were discovered in the mid-1990s. Continue reading..