Why is the grass, as well as the leaves on the trees and bushes, green? It's all about chlorophyll. You can take a strong rope of knowledge and make a strong acquaintance with him.
History
Let's take a short excursion into the relatively recent past. Joseph Bieneme Cavantou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier are the ones to shake hands with. Men of science have tried to separate the green pigment from the leaves of various plants. Efforts were crowned with success in 1817.
The pigment was named chlorophyll. From the Greek chloros, green, and phyllon, leaf. Regardless of the above, at the beginning of the 20th century, Mikhail Tsvet and Richard Wilstetter came to the conclusion that it turns out that chlorophyll contains several components.
Rolling up his sleeves, Willstetter set to work. Purification and crystallization revealed two components. They were simply called alpha and beta (a and b). For his work in the field of research of this substance in 1915, he was solemnly awarded the Nobel Prize.
In 1940, Hans Fischer proposed to the world the final structure of chlorophyll "a". Synthesis king Robert Burns Woodward and several scientists from America obtained unnatural chlorophyll in 1960. And so the veil of secrecy was opened - the appearance of chlorophyll.
Chemicalproperties
Chlorophyll formula, determined from experimental indicators, looks like this: C55H72O5 N4Mg. The design includes organic dicarboxylic acid (chlorophyllin), as well as methyl and phytol alcohols. Chlorophyllin is an organometallic compound related to magnesium porphyrins and contains nitrogen.
COOH
MgN4OH30C32
COOH
Chlorophyll is listed as an ester due to the fact that the remaining parts of methyl alcohol are CH3OH and phytol C20H 39OH replaced the hydrogen of carboxyl groups.
Above is the structural formula of chlorophyll alpha. Looking at it carefully, you can see that beta-chlorophyll has one oxygen atom more, but two less hydrogen atoms (the CHO group instead of CH3). Hence the molecular weight of alpha-chlorophyll is lower than that of beta.
Magnesium settled in the middle of the particle of the substance we are interested in. It combines with 4 nitrogen atoms of the pyrrole formations. The system of elementary and alternating double bonds can be observed in pyrrole bonds.
Chromophore formation, which successfully fits into the composition of chlorophyll - this is N. It makes it possible to absorb individual rays of the solar spectrum and its color, regardless of the fact that during the day the sun burns like a flame, and in the evening it looks like smoldering coals.
Let's move on to size. The porphyrin core is 10 nm in diameter, the phytol fragment turned out to be 2 nm long. In the nucleus, chlorophyll is 0.25 nm, betweenmicroparticles of pyrrole nitrogen groups.
I would like to note that the magnesium atom, which is part of chlorophyll, is only 0.24 nm in diameter and almost completely fills the free space between the atoms of the pyrrole groups of nitrogen, which helps the core of the molecule to be stronger.
It can be concluded that chlorophyll (a and b) consists of two components under the simple name alpha and beta.
Chlorophyll a
The relative mass of the molecule is 893.52. Microcrystals of black color with a blue tint are created in the separated stay. At a temperature of 117-120 degrees Celsius, they melt and transform into a liquid.
In ethanol the same chloroforms, in acetone, and benzenes dissolve readily. The results take on a blue-green color and have a distinctive feature - rich red fluorescence. Poorly soluble in petroleum ether. They do not bloom at all in water.
Chlorophyll alpha formula: C55H72O5N 4Mg. The substance in its chemical structure is classified as a chlorine. In the ring, phytol is attached to propionic acid, namely to its residue.
Some plant organisms, instead of chlorophyll a, form its analogue. Here, the ethyl group (-CH2-CH3) in the II pyrrole ring was replaced by a vinyl one (-CH=CH2). Such a molecule contains the first vinyl group in ring one, the second in ring two.
Chlorophyll b
Chlorophyll-beta formula is as follows: C55H70O6N 4Mg. Molecular weight of a substanceis 903. At the carbon atom C3 in the pyrrole ring two, there is a little alcohol devoid of hydrogen –H-C=O, which has a yellow color. This is the difference from chlorophyll a.
We dare to note that several types of chlorophylls reside in special permanent parts of the cell, vital for its further existence, plastids-chloroplasts.
Chlorophylls c and d
Chlorophyll c. The classic porphyrin is what makes this pigment different.
In red algae, chlorophyll d. Some doubt its existence. It is believed that it is only a degeneration product of chlorophyll a. At the moment, we can confidently say that chlorophyll with the letter d is the main dye of some photosynthetic prokaryotes.
Properties of chlorophyll
After lengthy research, evidence has emerged that there is a dissimilarity in the characteristics of chlorophyll present in the plant and extracted from it. Chlorophyll in plants is connected to protein. The following observations testify to this:
- The absorption spectrum of chlorophyll in a leaf is different when compared to that extracted.
- It is unrealistic to get the subject of description from dried plants with pure alcohol. Extraction proceeds safely with well-moistened leaves, or water should be added to alcohol. It is she who breaks down the protein associated with chlorophyll.
- Material pulled out from plant leaves is quickly destroyed underinfluence of oxygen, concentrated acid, light rays.
But chlorophyll in plants is resistant to all of the above.
Chloroplasts
Chlorophyll plants contain 1% of dry matter. It can be found in special cell organelles - plastids, which shows its uneven distribution in the plant. Plastids of cells that are colored green and have chlorophyll in them are called chloroplasts.
The amount of H2O in chloroplasts ranges from 58 to 75%, the dry matter content consists of proteins, lipids, chlorophyll and carotenoids.
Chlorophyll Functions
Scientists have discovered an amazing similarity in the arrangement of chlorophyll and hemoglobin molecules, the main respiratory component of human blood. The difference is that in the pincer-shaped junction in the middle, magnesium is located in the pigment of plant origin, and iron is located in hemoglobin.
During photosynthesis, the planet's vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. Here is another great function of chlorophyll. In terms of activity, it can be compared with hemoglobin, but the amount of impact on the human body is somewhat larger.
Chlorophyll is a plant pigment that is sensitive to light and coated in green. Next comes photosynthesis, in which its microparticles convert the energy of the sun absorbed by plant cells into chemical energy.
One can come to the following conclusions that photosynthesis is a processconversion of solar energy. If you trust modern information, it has been noticed that the synthesis of organic substances from carbon dioxide gas and water using light energy is decomposed into three stages.
Stage 1
This phase is accomplished in the process of photochemical decomposition of water, with the assistance of chlorophyll. Molecular oxygen is released.
Stage 2
There are several redox reactions here. They take the active assistance of cytochromes and other electron carriers. The reaction occurs due to light energy transferred by electrons from water to NADPH and forming ATP. Light energy is stored here.
Stage 3
NADPH and ATP already formed are used to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrate. The absorbed light energy is involved in the reactions of the 1st and 2nd stages. The reactions of the last, third, occur without the participation of light and are called dark.
Photosynthesis is the only biological process that occurs with increasing free energy. Directly or indirectly provides available chemical enterprise to bipeds, winged, wingless, quadrupeds and other organisms living on earth.
Hemoglobin and chlorophyll
Hemoglobin and chlorophyll molecules have a complex, but at the same time similar atomic structure. Common in their structure is a profin - a ring of small rings. The difference is seen in the processes attached to the profin, and in the atoms located inside: the iron atom (Fe) in hemoglobin, in chlorophyllmagnesium (Mg).
Chlorophyll and hemoglobin are similar in structure, but form different protein structures. Chlorophyll is formed around the magnesium atom, and hemoglobin is formed around iron. If you take a molecule of liquid chlorophyll and disconnect the phytol tail (20 carbon chain), change the magnesium atom to iron, then the green color of the pigment will turn red. The result is a finished hemoglobin molecule.
Chlorophyll is easily and quickly absorbed, thanks to just such a similarity. Well supports an organism at oxygen starvation. It saturates the blood with the necessary trace elements, from here it better transports the most important substances for life to the cells. There is a timely release of waste materials, toxins, waste products resulting from natural metabolism. Has an effect on dormant leukocytes, awakening them.
The described hero, without fear or reproach, protects, strengthens cell membranes, and helps connective tissue to recover. The merits of chlorophyll include the rapid healing of ulcers, various wounds and erosions. Improves immune function, highlighted the ability to stop pathological disorders of DNA molecules.
A positive trend in the treatment of infectious and colds. This is not the whole list of good deeds of the substance considered.
