Green High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography: A Step Towards Eco-Friendly Analysis

High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) is a simple but reliable, sensitive, economical, and environmentally benign analytical technique for pharmaceuticals and herbal samples. Its advantages towards quantitative analysis include accurate sample application, quicker and efficient resolution of mixtures, minimum solvent usage and reduced sample size. The ability of HPTLC to examine numerous samples of varying complexity simultaneously and in parallel sets it apart from HPLC. This allows for a high sample throughput and the consumption of solvent and energy is low per sample. Furthermore, compared to HPLC, the use of HPTLC can conserve environmental resources because it requires little to no sample pre-treatments such as liquid-liquid extraction or solid-phase extraction. Several research studies on analytical method development using HPTLC now focus on the use of green solvents in lieu of traditional organic solvents, with the aim to reduce environmental pollution without compromising on analytical performance. In addition, advancements in assessment tools for determining "greenness", such as AGREE (Analytical GREEnness metric approach and software), GAPI, NEMI, facilitate the evaluation of greenness for specific analysis. The green methods continue to offer rapid, sensitive, and environmentally friendly methodologies, complying with international guidelines of analytical techniques. Overall, the integration of green solvent-based HPTLC methods into analytical workflows represents a significant step towards sustainable and environmentally conscious analytical practices.