1. Predict the order of elution of a mixture of triphenylmethanol, biphenyl, benzoic acid, and methyl benzoate from an alumina column. You may need to examine the structural elements in each compound.
2. Once the chromatography column has been prepared, why is it important to allow the level of the liquid in the column to drop to the level of the alumina before applying the solution of the compounds to be separated?
3. A chemist carried out a column chromatography experiment and reached the point at which the two compounds being separated were about three-fourths of the way down the column. He stopped the column since he had tickets to an opera. He returned on the next morning and re-started the column. He found that the compounds eluted together off the column as a mixture. Speculate the reason for this.
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