Title: chromatography
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - chromatography
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.C01075
Status: current

Definition
A physical method of separation in which the components to be separated are distributed between two phases, one of which is stationary (stationary phase) while the other (the mobile phase) moves in a definite direction.

Related Terms
- adsorption chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00157
- affinity chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00177
- column chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C01182
- displacement chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/D01797
- elution chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/E02046
- exclusion chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/E02261
- frontal chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/F02532
- gas chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/G02578
- ion-exchange chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03168
- isothermal chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03319
- liquid chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/L03578
- normal-phase chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/N04214
- partition chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04436
- planar chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04682
- programmed-flow chromatography (flow programming): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04870
- programmed-pressure chromatography (pressure programming): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04871
- programmed-temperature chromatography (temperature programming): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04872
- pyrolysis-gas chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04962
- reaction chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05167
- reversed-phase chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05376
- supercritical fluid chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/S06139
- two-dimensional chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/T06540

Sources
- Orange Book, 2nd ed., p. 92 (https://media.iupac.org/publications/analytical_compendium/)
- PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2179 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167)
- PAC, 1993, 65, 819. 'Nomenclature for chromatography (IUPAC Recommendations 1993)' on page 823 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199365040819)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01075/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01075/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01075/xml

Citation: Citation: 'chromatography' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.C01075
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-30T05:33:52+00:00