On the occasion of the 60-year anniversary of the invention of partition chromatography and the 50-year anniversary of the introduction of gas-liquid partition chromatography, this installment of "Milestones in Chromatography" discusses the circumstances that led to these developments and outlines the work of A.J.P. Martin, R.L.M. Synge, A.T. James and their coworkers, which opened new chapters in chromatography.

In June of 1941, almost exactly 60 years ago, the (British) Biochemical Society held its 214th meeting in London, at the National Institute for Medical Research. At this meeting, A.J.P. Martin and R.L.M. Synge, two young chemists (Martin was 31 and Synge 26)presented a paper on the separation and determination of the monoamino monocarboxylic acids present in wool using a new method (1). This lecture and its subsequent detailed publication represent the birth of partition chromatography (2).

Exactly 10 years later, Martin and another young scientist, 29-year-old A.T. James, submitted the manuscript of a major paper that described an extension of partition chromatography in which the mobile phase was a gas (3). This publication represents the birth of gas-liquid partition chromatography (GLPC).

On the occasion of these two anniversaries, we shall discuss in this "Milestones in Chromatography" column these milestones, probably the most important in the long evolution of chromatography since its discovery by M.S. Tswett almost 100 years ago. Without these inventions, this magazine would not exist and most of our readers would have some other job, maybe titrating or trying to isolate chlorophyll from some hundreds of kilograms of dried stinging nettle, as done in Willstatter's laboratory 96 years ago (4).

The invention of partition chromatography and the development of GLPC are fascinating stories. Fortunately, they are recorded fairly well in the Nobel Lectures of Martin (5) and Synge (6) and in the personal recollections of the principal players (7-10). I also had the honor of personally knowing them, discussing with them a number of times the background of their pioneering work. This column is based on these publications and personal information.

The Start at Cambridge University

Both Martin and Synge were students at Cambridge University in England -- Martin graduated in 1932 and Synge in 1936. When still in high school, Martin became fascinated by fractional distillation and even built in the basement of his house some long distillation columns from empty coffee cans, soldered together. He originally planned to be a chemical engineer, but at Cambridge he changed to biochemistry upon the influence of Professor J.B.S. Haldane. As a teenager, Synge had already become fascinated by how living things functioned and, thus, he also majored in biochemistry at Cambridge.

After graduation, both Martin and Synge remained at Cambridge as graduate students, although their paths had not yet crossed. Martin joined the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory and was involved in research on vitamin E. He started separating carotenes by distribution between two solvents using separating funnels. Being always interested in engineering, he eventually built a very complicated laboratory machine, consisting of 45 5-foot-long tubes connected to one another and serving...