phytoln.
/ˈfʌɪtɒl/, U.S. /ˈfaɪˌtɑl/ Biochemistry.
A long-chain terpenoid alcohol, C20H40O, that is a colourless oil obtained by the hydrolysis of various biologically important compounds including chlorophyll and vitamins E and K.Chemical name: 3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadec-2-en-1-ol.
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the world > life > biology > substance > pigment > [noun] > plant pigments > green > chlorophyll > constituent of
xanthophyll1838
phylloxanthin1858
phyllocyanin1861
phytol1907
1907 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 92 i. 784 The authors have been able..to remove the magnesium quantitatively and to obtain for the first time an ashless compound closely related to chlorophyll. This derivative is an ester, termed phaeophytin, and is hydrolysed readily by alkalis, yielding an unsaturated alcohol, phytol, C20H40O, which is formed also by the action of alkalis on chlorophyll.
1950 J. Bonner Plant Biochem. xxx. 470 Hydrolysis of pheophytin with stronger acid removes the phytol group to yield pheophorbides a and b.
1977 Nature 18 Aug. 621/2 The precursors of these hydrocarbons are unknown, but it is surmised that they result from the diagenesis of phytol, a moiety widely distributed among plant pigments.
1988 L. Stryer Biochem. (ed. 3) xxii. 520 Another distinctive feature of chlorophyll is the presence of phytol, a highly hydrophobic 20-carbon alcohol, esterified to an acid side chain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1907