The chromatographic method of separating mixtures of different compounds was discovered by M.S. Tsvet as a result of research to create a method of establishing the composition of plant pigments, primarily chlorophyll. This research was completed by the articles "A new category of adsorption phenomena and their use in biochemical analysis" [1] and "A new category of adsorption phenomena. Adsorptions" [2]. In these articles, a column of colorless adsorbent with separate colored zones of individual pigments is known as the "chromatogram" and the proposed method is called "chromatographic." These terms still persist, although their arbitrariness is obvious in the case of separation of colorless substances in rigid vinyl plastic and metal tubes - columns.