The introduction of high performance techniques to thin-layer chromatography has secured a future for TLC. The development of increasingly more sensitive detection reagents has meant that the detection of ever smaller substrate concentrations has become possible.

The first part of this volume describes general methods, including prechromatographic derivatization, whilst the second part gives numerous applications listed according to the detection reagent employed. The authors describe the selected methods in detail and critically evaluate each reagent. Each reaction procedure is concluded with a tested example, useful as a guide to practical work. Detection limits and measurement conditions are also given, enabling a quantitative evaluation to be made. The literature references will be welcomed by those readers wishing to gain further insight into this field.

All in all, this publication, which will be continued in later volumes, is far more than a collection of reagents - it is a laboratory handbook for the experimentalist. This book also gives numerous useful suggestions for applications in the field of high pressure liquid chromatography and electrophoresis.