this deals with TLC chromatography:

Question

if 2 compounds have same Rf under identical conditions, does it show that they have identical structures?

i think it does. but im not sure why.

thanks mucho.

Answer 1

My best guess, but you should check with others, is that two compounds with the same Rf value are not necessarily identical. I think you might get the same Rf value because the solvent was not right to separate two different compounds. From known runs of known compounds that ARE separated by a particular solvent, then two compounds with the same Rf value will be the same compound. But for a mixture of many compounds my first thought holds.