Ipomoea tricolor, the Mexican morning glory or just morning glory, is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae, native to the New World tropics, and widely cultivated and naturalised elsewhere. It is an herbaceous annual or perennial twining liana growing to 2–4 m (7–13 ft) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, 3–7 cm long with a 1.5–6 cm long petiole. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, 4–9 cm (2–4 in) in diameter, most commonly blue with a white to golden yellow centre.
Supramolecular chemistry is the domain of chemistry concerning chemical systems composed of a discrete number of molecules. The strength of the forces responsible for spatial organization of the system range from weak intermolecular forces, electrostatic charge, or hydrogen bonding to strong covalent bonding, provided that the electronic coupling strength remains small relative to the energy parameters of the component. Whereas traditional chemistry concentrates on the covalent bond, supramolecular chemistry examines the weaker and reversible non-covalent interactions between molecules. These forces include hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces, pi–pi interactions and electrostatic effects.
A supramolecular assembly or "supermolecule" is a well defined complex of molecules held together by noncovalent bonds. While a supramolecular assembly can be simply composed of two molecules, it is more often used to denote larger complexes of molecules that form sphere-, rod-, or sheet-like species. Micelles, liposomes and biological membranes are examples of supramolecular assemblies. The dimensions of supramolecular assemblies can range from nanometers to micrometers. Thus they allow access to nanoscale objects using a bottom-up approach in far fewer steps than a single molecule of similar dimensions.
Delphinidin is an anthocyanidin, a primary plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. Delphinidin gives blue hues to flowers in the genera Viola and Delphinium. It also gives the blue-red color of the grape that produces Cabernet Sauvignon, and can be found in cranberries and Concord grapes as well as pomegranates, and bilberries.
Protocyanin is an anthocyanin pigment that is responsible for the red colouration of roses, but in cornflowers is blue. The pigment was first isolated in 1913 from the blue cornflower, and the identical pigment was isolated from a red rose in 1915. The difference in colour had been explained as a difference in flower-petal pH, but the pigment in the blue cornflower has been shown to be a supermolecular pigment consisting of anthocyanin, flavone, one ferric ion, one magnesium and two calcium ions forming a copigmentation complex.
Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, feathers, fur and hair contain pigments such as melanin in specialized cells called chromatophores. In some species, pigments accrue over very long periods during an individual's lifespan.
A molecular sensor or chemosensor is a molecular structure that is used for sensing of an analyte to produce a detectable change or a signal. The action of a chemosensor, relies on an interaction occurring at the molecular level, usually involves the continuous monitoring of the activity of a chemical species in a given matrix such as solution, air, blood, tissue, waste effluents, drinking water, etc. The application of chemosensors is referred to as chemosensing, which is a form of molecular recognition. All chemosensors are designed to contain a signalling moiety and a recognition moiety, that is connected either directly to each other or through a some kind of connector or a spacer. The signalling is often optically based electromagnetic radiation, giving rise to changes in either the ultraviolet and visible absorption or the emission properties of the sensors. Chemosensors may also be electrochemically based. Small molecule sensors are related to chemosensors. These are traditionally, however, considered as being structurally simple molecules and reflect the need to form chelating molecules for complexing ions in analytical chemistry. Chemosensors are synthetic analogues of biosensors, but such sensors incorporate biological receptor such as antibodies, aptamers or large biopolymers.
Anthoxanthins are a type of flavonoid pigments in plants. Anthoxanthins are water-soluble pigments which range in color from white or colorless to a creamy to yellow, often on petals of flowers. These pigments are generally whiter in an acid medium and yellowed in an alkaline medium. They are very susceptible to color changes with minerals and metal ions, similar to anthocyanins. As with all flavonoids, they exhibit antioxidant properties, and are important in nutrition, and are sometimes used as food additives. Darkening with iron is particularly prominent in food products. They are considered to have more variety than anthocyanins. Some examples are quercitin.
Croconic acid or 4,5-dihydroxycyclopentenetrione is a chemical compound with formula C
5H
2O
5 or (C=O)
3(COH)
2. It has a cyclopentene backbone with two hydroxyl groups adjacent to the double bond and three ketone groups on the remaining carbon atoms. It is sensitive to light, soluble in water and ethanol and forms yellow crystals that decompose at 212 °C.
Myrtillin is an anthocyanin. It is the 3-glucoside of delphinidin. It can be found in all green plants, most abundantly in blackcurrant, blueberry, huckleberry, bilberry leaves and in various myrtles, roselle plants, and Centella asiatica plant. It is also present in yeast and oatmeal. The sumac fruit's pericarp owes its dark red colour to anthocyanin pigments, of which chrysanthemin, myrtillin and delphinidin have yet been identified.
Muriel Wheldale Onslow was a British biochemist, born in Birmingham, England. She was married to biochemist Victor Alexander Herbert Huia Onslow, second son of the 4th Earl of Onslow. She studied the inheritance of flower color in the common snapdragon further contributing in the concern of biochemistry pigment molecules in plants such as anthocyanins. She attended the King Edward VI High School in Birmingham and then matriculated at Newnham College, Cambridge in 1900. At Cambridge she majored in botany. She received no degree from Cambridge, despite taking First Class Honors in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos, because Cambridge did not award degrees to women until 1948. Onslow later worked alongside Bateson's genetic group in Cambridge, providing expertise in biochemical genetics and investigating the inheritance of petal color in Antirrhinum (snapdragons). She was one of the first women appointed as a lecturer at Cambridge, after moving to the Biochemistry department. A play was written about her and three other female biochemists.
Copigmentation is a phenomenon where pigmentation due to anthocyanidins is reinforced by the presence of other colorless flavonoids known as cofactors or “copigments”. This occurs by the formation of a non-covalently-linked complex.
Violdelphin is an anthocyanin, a plant pigment, has been found in the purplish blue flower of Aconitum chinense, in the blue flowers in the genus Campanula and in the blue flowers of Delphinium hybridum. It is a flavenoid natural product, incorporating two p-hydroxy benzoic acid residues, one rutinoside and two glucosides associated with a delphinidin.
Delphinium × cultorum is a hybrid species in the genus Delphinium derived from D. elatum.
Pelargonin is an anthocyanin. It is the 3,5-O-diglucoside of pelargonidin.
Blue flower colour was always associated with something unusual and desired. Blue roses especially were assumed to be a dream that cannot be realised. Blue colour in flower petals is caused by anthocyanins, which are members of flavonoid class metabolites. We can diversify three main classes of anthocyanin pigments: cyaniding type responsible for red coloration, pelargonidin type responsible for orange colour and delphinidin type responsible for violet/blue flower and fruits coloration. The main difference in the structure of listed anthocyanins type is the number of hydroxyl groups in the B-ring of the anthocyanin. Nevertheless in the monomeric state anthocyanins never show blue colour in the weak acidic and neutral pH. The mechanism of blue colour formation are very complicated in most cases, presence of delphinidin type pigments is not sufficient, great role play also the pH and the formation of complexes of anthocyanins with flavones and metal ions.
