6 VIOLAXANTHIN 193 



6. VIOLAXANTHIN C4oH5e04 



History 



1931 KuHN and Winterstein^^ isolate a pigment of the formula C4oH5g04 from 



the yellow blossoms of pansies {viola tricolor). The pigment is named 



violaxanthin. 

 1931-44 Karrer and co-workers''* carry out detailed investigations on the 



constitution of violaxanthin. 

 1945 Karrer and Jucker achieve a partial synthesis of violaxanthin by the 



oxidation of zeaxanthin and thus establish the constitution of the 



pigment'^. 



Occurrence 



Recent investigations have shown that violaxanthin is fairly widely 

 distributed in nature. In view of the formation of violaxanthin from zea- 

 xanthin''^ it was to be expected that plants containing the former would also 

 contain the latter pigment. As the investigations regarding the genetic relation- 

 ship of the two compounds are very recent, this question has so far received 

 comparatively little attention. 



a) Blossoms: 

 Calendula officinalis 



Cytisiis laburnum 



Laburnum anagyroides 



Ranunculus acer 



Sinapis officinalis 



Stinging nettles 



Tagetes grandiflora 



Taraxacum officinale 



Tragopogon pratensis 



Tulipa (yellow variety) 

 Tussilago Farfara 



References p. 214— 217. 

 Carotenoids 13 



TABLE 42 



OCCURRENCE OF VIOLAXANTHIN 



References 



L. Zechmeister and L. v. Cholnoky, Z. physiol. 

 Chem. 208 (1932) 27. 



P. Karrer and A. Notthafft, Helv. chim. Acta 15 

 (1932) 1195. 



P. Karrer and A. Notthafft, Helv. chim. Acta 13 

 (1932) 1195. 



R. KuHN and H. Brockmann, Z. physiol. Chem. 213 

 (1932) 192. 



P. Karrer and A. Notthafft, Helv. chim. Acta 15 

 (1932) 1195. 



R. KuHN, A. WiNTERSTEiN and E. Lederer, Z. 

 physiol. Chem. igy (1931) 141. — P. Karrer and co- 

 workers, Helv. chim. Acta 28 (1945) 1146. 

 R. KuHN, A. WiNTERSTEiN and E. Lederer, Z. 

 physiol. Chem. igy (1933) 141. 

 R. KuHN and E. Lederer, Z. physiol. Chem. 200 



(1931) 108. 



P. Karrer and A. Notthafft, Helv. chim. Acta 13 



(1932) 1195. 



C. A. ScHUNCK, Proc. Roy. Soc. 72 (1903) 1G5. 



P. Karrer and R. Morf, Helv. chim. Acta 13 (1932) 



863. 



