Chlorophyll phytol absorption

Baxter, J. H. (1968). Absorption of chlorophyll phytol in normal man and in patients with Refsum s disease. J. Lipid Res., 9,636... 

The natural source of exogenous phytol is mainly dietary chlorophyll which contains about 30% of phytol. The extent to which the alcohol is split from the chlorophyll molecule, and its absorption characteristics are not yet known. 

If the aUomerization reaction takes place in a slightly alkaline medium and under inert atmosphere, there is only solvolysis of the isocyclic ring, and the resulting components are denominated esterified chlorin es and rhodin g-j, depending on whether they come from the a- or fc-series, respectively. Chlorophyll a yields Mg-phytol-chlorin while pheophytin a or pheophorbide a yields phytol-chlorin eg or free chlorin eg, respectively. The same series of transformations can be described for chlorophyll b. The structural difference between these compounds and the purpurins 7 is solely in the substituent of C-15, which, in place of an O, is an H, so that their coloration, polarity, and electron absorption properties are very similar. Other techniques, such as mass spectroscopy (MS), must be used for their differentiation [28]. 

FIGURE 7.8 Electronic absorption spectra of chlorophyll fl(—) and Mg-phytol-chlorin eg ( ). 

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