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Mass spectrometric comparison of ordinary and fully deuterated α‐ and β‐carotene
Author(s) -
Svec W. A.,
Harkness A. L.,
Strain H. H.,
Katz J. J.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
organic mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 0030-493X
DOI - 10.1002/oms.1210060804
Subject(s) - deuterium , molecule , chemistry , carotene , polyene , mass spectrometry , proton affinity , fragmentation (computing) , mass spectrum , stereochemistry , photochemistry , organic chemistry , chromatography , physics , atomic physics , ion , protonation , computer science , operating system
The individual, deuterated, isomeric α‐ and β‐carotenes were isolated from the green alga, Scenedesmus obliquus , cultivated in D 2 O containing 99·7 to 99·8 atom percent deuterium. Mass spectroscopy showed that both the α‐ and β‐deuterio‐carotene preparations contained principally the fully deuterated pigment molecules (C 40 D 56 ), small quantities of deuterated molecules with one proton (C 40 D 55 H) and yet smaller quantities of deuterated molecules with two protons (C 40 D 54 H 2 ). From statistical calculations the deuterio‐carotene preparations also contained one to several isotopically‐substituted deuterio‐carotenes of each mass in the mass range 585 to 599 because of variation of the number of 13 C and H atoms per molecule. The mass fragmentation of the deuterated pigments was analogous to that of the respective ordinary α‐ and β‐carotene. It indicated that the protons in the C 40 D 55 H and C 40 D 54 H 2 molecules were distributed approximately randomly in various parts of the structure as in the terminal rings and in the ends and central portions of the polyene chain.