What are the advantages and disadvantages of column chromatography and thin layer chromatography?

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of column chromatography and thin layer chromatography?

Answer 1

The biggest advantage of column chromatography is that it can usually be scaled to the project at hand.  This is especially useful if one is trying to separate and purify a reaction mixture preparing an intermediate in a sequence of reactions.  The corresponding disadvantage is the column may take a long time to properly prepare and use.

Thin layer chromatography is usually great for initial analysis and determining the conditions needed for a good separation.  Many plates are commercially available and the chromatograms usually do not take a long time to develop.  The main disadvantage is the very small amounts of compounds handled.  These can be recovered for instrumental analysis, but seldom is there enough for further reaction.