Abstract
WE have investigated some characteristics of a hyperchromic absorption of light that takes place when a compound in dry chromatographic paper is transilluminated with radiation of absorbable wave-length. Laurence1 has previously noticed and interpreted such enhanced absorption, but no results were presented, and the phenomenon has escaped general recognition. It is a true2 absorption, and not a manifestation of varying spatial distribution of the transmitted light. All evidence indicates that it is caused by transit of photons through dry paper via paths longer than rectilinear lines directly through the paper and the layer of absorbing compound therein. Multiple refractions augment the effective optical depth in the manner described by Keilin and Hartree in photometric studies of compounds in devitrified frozen solvents3.
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References
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PRICE, T., HUDSON, P. & ASHMAN, D. Enhanced Light Absorption by Compounds in Chromatograms. Nature 175, 45–46 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/175045a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/175045a0
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