Leaf Chemistry

The autumn leaves are stunning this year, especially the golds and russet-browns. So we decided to see what colours really are in the different leaf colours and do some leaf chromatography. We used two solvents to separate out the leaf colour - acetone (nail polish remover) and rubbing alcohol (!). After cutting, grinding and squishing the leaves we wiped some of the colour onto strips of filter paper about 2cm from the bottom. These were then placed into jars with the solvent at the bottom. As the solvent moved up the filter paper, it drew out the different colours - the yellow and green can be seen clearly on both holly and green oak. The red leaf is Japanese Maple in our garden. Overall, we felt the acetone did a better job. Sweet chestnut, oak, dogwood and holly gave stronger colour than birch, hazel and rowan. The yellow leaves had no green in them but some had a hint of orangey-red.