How Do We Know When an Organic Compound Is Pure?

he separation of mixtures of compounds to give the pure components is of T great practical importance in chemistry. ~ 2 n ~ synthetic reactions give mixtures of products and it is necessary for you to have a reasonably clear idea of how mixtures of compounds can be separated. Almost all compounds of biochemical interest occur naturally as components of very complex mixtures from which they can be separated only with considerable difficulty. Separations can be achieved by differences in physical properties, such as differences in boiling point, or by chemical means, wherein differences in physical properties are enhanced by chemical reactions. In this chapter we will consider some separations of compounds based on differences in physical