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| Names | |
|---|---|
| IUPAC name Chlorophyll b | |
| Systematic IUPAC name Magnesium [methyl (3S,4S,21R)-14-ethyl-13-formyl-4,8,18-trimethyl-20-oxo-3-(3-oxo-3-{[(2E,7R,11R)-3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-yl]oxy}propyl)-9-vinyl-21-phorbinecarboxylatato(2-)-κ2N,N′] | |
| Other names β-Chlorophyll | |
| Identifiers | |
| 3D model (JSmol) | |
| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.007.522 | 
| EC Number | 
 | 
| E number | E140 (colours) | 
|  PubChem CID | |
| UNII | |
|  CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |
| 
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| 
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| Properties | |
| C55H70MgN4O6 | |
| Molar mass | 907.492 g·mol−1 | 
| Appearance | Green | 
| Odor | Odorless | 
| Melting point | ~125 °C (257 °F; 398 K) [1] | 
| Insoluble [1] | |
| Solubility | Very soluble in ethanol, ether, pyridine Soluble in methanol [1] | 
| Absorbance | See text | 
| Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). | |
 
 Chlorophyll b is a form of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll b helps in photosynthesis by absorbing light energy. It is more soluble than chlorophyll a in polar solvents because of its carbonyl group. Its color is green, and it primarily absorbs blue light. [2]
In land plants, the light-harvesting antennae around photosystem II contain the majority of chlorophyll b. Hence, in shade-adapted chloroplasts, which have an increased ratio of photosystem II to photosystem I, there is a higher ratio of chlorophyll b to chlorophyll a. [3] This is adaptive, as increasing chlorophyll b increases the range of wavelengths absorbed by the shade chloroplasts.
|   |   | 
| Structure of chlorophyll b molecule showing the long hydrocarbon tail | |
The Chlorophyll b biosynthetic pathway utilizes a variety of enzymes. [4] In most plants, chlorophyll is derived from glutamate and is synthesised along a branched pathway that is shared with heme and siroheme. [5] [6] [7] The initial steps incorporate glutamic acid into 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA); two molecules of ALA are then reduced to porphobilinogen (PBG), and four molecules of PBG are coupled, forming protoporphyrin IX.
Chlorophyll synthase [8] is the enzyme that completes the biosynthesis of chlorophyll b [9] [10] by catalysing the reaction EC 2.5.1.62
This forms an ester of the carboxylic acid group in chlorophyllide b with the 20-carbon diterpene alcohol phytol.