[TheRockIng]

Hi guys,

 First time here so I'll try my best to be as concise as possible in my question!

I did a carbocation of Maleic acid in class and the solution that we got was analyzed using a TLC. My solution got 3.45 Rf and fumeric acid was 4.5 where as maleic acid was 1.4. Therefore my solution is 83.3% maleic acid. Where I am stuck is to explain WHY fumeric acid travelled longer. I thought ,at first , that fumeric acid was less polar than maleic therefore leading to a longer distance. But I was wrong. I am starting to think it has to do with nucleophilic stuff ( just started that chapter)

Any help? :/

[sjb]

Hi guys,

 First time here so I'll try my best to be as concise as possible in my question!

I did a carbocation of Maleic acid in class and the solution that we got was analyzed using a TLC. My solution got 3.45 Rf and fumeric acid was 4.5 where as maleic acid was 1.4. Therefore my solution is 83.3% maleic acid. Where I am stuck is to explain WHY fumeric acid travelled longer. I thought ,at first , that fumeric acid was less polar than maleic therefore leading to a longer distance. But I was wrong. I am starting to think it has to do with nucleophilic stuff ( just started that chapter)

Any help? :/

Rfs are usually quoted as a fraction less than 1, and aren't usually additive in this way. I'm not really sure what you're measuring. What's the full procedure?