page_title: Xanthophyll
section_title: Molecular structure
hierarchical_section_title: Xanthophyll / Molecular structure
caption_attribution_description: English: Chromatography of chlorophyll – Step 7
context_page_description: Xanthophylls are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek xanthos and phyllon, due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments.
context_section_description: As both are carotenoids, xanthophylls and carotenes are similar in structure, but xanthophylls contain oxygen atoms while carotenes are purely hydrocarbons, which do not contain oxygen. Their content of oxygen causes  xanthophylls to be more polar (in molecular structure) than carotenes, and causes their separation from carotenes in many types of chromatography. (Carotenes are usually more orange in color than xanthophylls.)
  Xanthophylls present their oxygen either as hydroxyl groups and/or as hydrogen atoms substituted by oxygen atoms when acting as a bridge to form epoxides.
caption: Thin layer chromatography is used to separate components of a plant extract, illustrating the experiment with plant pigments that gave chromatography its name. Plant xanthophylls form the bright yellow band next to the green
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