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Selected organic compounds commonly occurring in plant and animal tissues have been chromatographed on glass fiber, paraffin-coated and untreated cellulose paper in a number of different solvent systems. The RF values of these compounds represent new additions to the literature in the solvent systems studied.

A wide range of Δ 4 - and Δ 1 , 4 -3-ketosteroids, from weakly polar to strongly polar, may be chromatographed and detected on cellulose triaacetate paper, with benzene—methanol—water mixtures as developing solvents. Three systems have been worked out. In the first a one-phase mixture of benzene, methanol and water is used as the mobile phase and the paper is not accommodated. A “reversed phase” type of chromatogram is obtained, i.e. the more polar compounds have higher R F values than the less polar ones, as is usual for chromatography on acetylated paper. If, howerver, two-phase mixtures of benzene, methanol and water are used, as was the case in the other two methods, “reversed phases”, as well as “convetional” type chomatograms may be obtained. This depeds upon whether the lower or the upper layer is used as the mobile phase, the other layer being used for accommodation of the paper. Perhaps the first-mentioned method should, in contrast to the other two, be regarded as adsorption chromatography, rather than as partition chromatography. Well-reproducible R F values are obtained and, especially with the two-phase mixtures, compact spots are found. Detection methods and R F dta are given for various Δ 4 - and Δ 1 , 4 -3- ketosteroids, ranging from C 18 to C 27 compounds and including sex hormones and adrenoccortical hormones.