The application of counter-current methods to the fractionation of lipid material from brain

Abstract

The fractionation of lipid mixtures by classical methods based on their differential solubilities in organic solvents is an elaborate and lengthy pro- cedure, frequently yielding products of doubtful purity. For this reason alternative methods of purification were sought. Attempts to apply adsorption chromatography were not encouraging in our hands, as the separation was poor, and invari- ably about 25 % of the material remained firmly adsorbed to the column, resisting elution by all the usual solvents. Partition chromatography on silica gel was unsatisfactory, as the phospholipins altered the equilibrium between stationary and mobile phases, and completely upset the columns.