An Automated System for Sample Collection and Computer Analysis of Thin-Layer Radiochromatograms

Abstract

An automatic scraper for collecting minute zones of absorbent along thin-layer chromatographic lanes for subsequent radioisotopic or chemical measurements has now been combined with a direct data-acquisition system. Remotely located liquid-scintillation spectrometers transmit their data by means of a dedicated telephone circuit to an IBM 026 Card Punch in our data-processing center. Programs using an IBM 7090 computer and a Benson-Lehner Electroplotter have been developed, providing radiometric analysis of small (1- and 2-mm) and large TLC zones, and graphically producing exact-scaled replicas of the radioisotopic distribution along the chromatographic lanes from the punched-card data. The programmed analysis includes the conversion of counts per minute to disintegrations per minute, the computation of the radioisotopic distribution on chromatograms, recovery of activity from TLC plates, and determination of specific activity. Application of this system of analysis is illustrated for the separation of synthetic derivatives of ¹⁴C-labeled alkyl glyceryl ethers and of products of a lipase-catalyzed reaction.