13.11.2012 Views

1.1 Porphyrins - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

1.1 Porphyrins - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

1.1 Porphyrins - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

N<br />

N<br />

NH HN<br />

NH HN<br />

N O<br />

N O<br />

CO2Me CO2Me O<br />

OH<br />

O<br />

O<br />

3<br />

Discussion and Results 3<br />

3 Discussion and Results<br />

3.1 Semi-Natural Cycloketo-<strong>Porphyrins</strong><br />

That substance class covers the whole family of the chlorophylls and their derivatives.<br />

Thereby chlorophyll a 1 is of the utmost significance, since it is the most wide-spread one<br />

being found in plants, algae and even some bacteria. 79 Primary degradation comprises<br />

demetallation (→ pheophytin a 31) and the loss of the phytyl side chain leading to<br />

pheophorbide a 32 existing as equilibrium mixture of two diastereomers. As that fact<br />

seriously hampers photophysical measurements and as it could give rise to ring-opening<br />

side-reactions leading to chlorin e6 derivatives, further degradation by pyrolysis is performed<br />

destroying the allomeric center to give pyropheophorbide a 33.<br />

N<br />

NH HN<br />

N<br />

31 32 33<br />

Scheme 20. Products from chemical modification (degradation) of chlorophyll a 1.<br />

3.<strong>1.1</strong> Accessing Pyropheophorbide a<br />

To successfully generate pyropheophorbide a 33, chlorophyll a 1 had to be isolated. Initially<br />

applied protocols used mixtures of leaf spinach and stinging nettles or dried chlorella algae<br />

as natural source. But both, they were laborious due to time-consuming processing of the<br />

organic starting materials (e.g. grinding) and as the separation from unwanted chlorophyll b<br />

turned out to be difficult. 80 Thus, switching the starting material to spirulina algae seemed<br />

more promising since it exclusively contains chlorophyll a 1 and as that is not being<br />

O<br />

O<br />

OH<br />

25

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!