Interference No. 103,675
reaction has occurred and whether or not the reaction is complete.
Chen et al. have not even presented any of the actual TLC plates
allegedly used by Dr. Chen to separate the compounds he allegedly
prepared. Rather we have only Dr. Chen's rudimentary drawings of what
purports to be the TLC plates he actually used to separate the
compounds allegedly prepared.
Chen et al. also rely heavily on various nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy spectra as evidence that compounds allegedly
prepared by Dr. Chen were identified by Dr. Chen or co-workers at
Bristol-Myers Squibb as compounds within the various counts. Ignoring
for the time being that Chen et al. have never identified any compound
allegedly prepared by Dr. Chen or any other employee of Bristol-Myers
which is useful in monitoring the progress of organic reactions and
determining the purity of compounds. TLC consists of a stationary
phase immobilized on a glass or plastic plate and an organic
solvent. The sample is deposited as a spot on the stationary phase
and the bottom of the plate placed in a container with solvent.
When the solvent front travels the length of the plate and reaches
the opposite edge of the stationary phase, the plate is removed and
the spots, representing the starting materials and products, are
developed with UV light or iodine vapor. The different components
move up the plate at different rates due to differences in their
partitioning behavior between the mobile solvent phase and the
stationary phase. The retention factor, Rf, is defined as the
distance traveled by the compound divided by the distance traveled
by the solvent. Because the conditions which determine a compound's
Rf are difficult to control, Rf factors are generally denominated
"relative Rf's." Using an authentic sample of an unknown compound
believed to have been prepared, the identity of an unknown can be
confirmed by running the unknown and the authentic sample side-by-
side. In re Ahlert, 424 F.2d 1088, 1091, 165 USPQ 418, 420 (CCPA
1970).
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