Two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography in the analysis of secondary plant metabolites

Drugs, derived from medicinal plants, have been enjoying a renaissance in the last years. It is due to a great pharmacological potential of herbal drugs, as many natural compounds have been found to exhibit biological activity of wide spectrum. The introduction of whole plants, plant extracts, or isolated natural compounds has led to the need to create the analytical methods suitable for their analysis. The identification of isolated substances is relatively an easy task, but the analysis of plant extracts causes a lot of problems, as they are usually very complex mixtures. Chromatographic methods are one of the most popular techniques applied in the analysis of natural mixtures. Unfortunately the separation power of traditional, one-dimensional techniques, is usually inadequate for separation of more complex samples. In such a case the use of multidimensional chromatography is advised. Planar chromatography gives the possibility of performing two-dimensional separations with the use of one adsorbent with two different eluents or by using bilayer plates or graft thin-layer chromatography (TLC) technique; combinations of different multidimensional techniques are also possible. In this paper, multidimensional planar chromatographic methods, commonly applied in the analysis of natural compounds, were reviewed. A detailed information is given on the methodology of performing two-dimensional separations on one adsorbent, on bilayer plates, with the use of graft TLC and hyphenated methods. General aspects of multidimensionality in liquid chromatography are also described. Finally a reader will find a description of variable two-dimensional methods applied in the analysis of compounds, most commonly encountered in plant extracts. This paper is aimed to draw attention to the potential of two-dimensional planar chromatography in the field of phytochemistry. It may be useful for those who are interested in achieving successful separations of multicomponent mixtures by means of two-dimensional TLC.