Six solvent systems of varying suitability are reported for the thin-layer chromatographic separation of simple phenolics acid related compounds such as gallic acid, methyl gallate, pyrogallol, phloroglucinol, catechol, resorcinol, hydroquinone, catechin, epicatechin, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and tannic acid. The solvent system chloroform-ethyl acetate-acetic acid (50:50:1) facilitated the separation of all the compounds except pyrogallol and ferulic acid; resorcinol and hydroquinone, which were in turn resolved in benzene-dioxane-acetic acid (85:15.1). Detection was carried out using iodine vapour, ferric chloride reagent, ferric chloride-ferricyanide reagent and vanillin-sulfuric acid reagent. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.