Carotenoids – 4

Carotenoids — 4 brings together the main lectures presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Carotenoids held in Berne, Switzerland, on August 25-29, 1975. The papers explore a wide range of topics relating to carotenoids, including their carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, stereochemistry, and biosynthesis. Carotenoid-protein complexes, carotenoid glycosides, xanthoxin and abscisic acid, and photoregulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants are also discussed. This book is comprised of 13 chapters and begins with an analysis of the carbon-13 NMR spectra of derivatives of beta-carotene, such as zeaxanthin, isozeaxanthin, violaxanthin, and alloxanthin. The reader is then introduced to carotenoid-protein complexes, with emphasis on the distinction between carotenoid-lipoglycoprotein complexes and astaxanthin-proteins in which the absorption band of the carotenoid is unaltered in shape. Subsequent chapters deal with carotenoid glycosides; the structures, chemical reactions, and stereochemistry of naturally occurring carotenoids; synthesis of carotenoids and related polyenes; and the apocarotenoid system of sex hormones and prohormones in Mucoraceous fungi. The early steps in and later reactions of carotenoid biosynthesis are also examined. The last chapter is devoted to the photoregulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants. This monograph will be a valuable source of information for chemists.