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Complexation of Cesium 137 by the Cap Pigments of the Bay Boletus ( Xerocomus badius )
Author(s) -
Aumann Dieter C.,
Clooth Gabriele,
Steffan Bert,
Steglich Wolfgang
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition in english
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 0570-0833
DOI - 10.1002/anie.198904531
Subject(s) - boletus , pigment , caesium , pileus , bay , chemistry , botany , potassium , mushroom , geology , inorganic chemistry , biology , oceanography , organic chemistry
Why is 137 Cs strongly enriched in bay boletus but hardly at all in cepe? This question, which arose after the reactor accident at Chernobyl, can now be answered. It was already known that bay boletus contains the unusual pigments badione A and norbadione A in the brown pileus and that these pigments are absent in cepe. The cap pigments are present in the mushroom as potassium complexes. However, the pigments can also bind cesium. Norbadione forms a 1:1 complex with CsCl. This complex can be dissociated by exposure to a strongly acidic cation exchanger.