1914I Clarence J. West 243 



by the fact that upon further decomposition it gives pliyto- 

 chlorine / and g, which are less basic than the normal decomposition 

 products.^^ 



If on the other hand, a hot alcohohc potash sol. is used, i gm. 

 of methyl chlorophylhde being heated five minutes to gentle boil- 

 ing with 25 c.c. of conc. potash, then 2 or 3 c.c. of water added 

 and the mixture heated a few minutes longer, there results isochlo- 

 rophyüine, the potassium salt of which is dark blue, and gives Solu- 

 tions which fluoresce, while those of the chlorophylline salts do not. 

 This gives the normal phytochlorine e upon treatment with acid.^- 



Willstätter has attempted to explain these reactions by means 

 of the lactam rearrangement, that is, the opening of a lactam ring 

 already present in the molecule and the formation of a new, similar, 

 but alkali-stable, ring. In Chlorophyll he supposes the following 

 groupings : 



CoiHogN.Mg (NH CO) COOCH3 COOC20H09 



y y ß CL 



If, under the influence of alkali, the lactam ring were opened, the 

 carboxyl group thus formed would be free to unite with the same 

 or another amino group present in the molecule, such as 8. This 

 would give a new Compound : 



CaiHsoNgMg (NH CO) COOCH3 COOC20H39 



8 7 iß a 



If, in this process, the esters were saponified, there would result a 

 Compound to which Willstätter has given the name chlorophylline: 



C3iH29N3Mg (NH CO) COoH CO2H 



h y ß a 



It is also possible that, after the lactam group is opened and the 

 a-carboxyl group is freed by saponification, this would react with 

 the freed amino group, which would then give the isomeric Com- 

 pound, called iso-chlorophylline : 



C3iH29N3Mg (NH CO) CO2H COoH 



h a ß y 



22 Willstätter : Ann. d. Chem., 350, 48 (1906); Willstätter and Utzinger: 

 Ibid.j 382, 129 (1911)- 



