Yellow Dioxobilin‐Type Tetrapyrroles from Chlorophyll Breakdown in Higher Plants—A New Class of Colored Phyllobilins

In senescent leaves chlorophyll (Chl) catabolites typically accumulate as colorless tetrapyrroles, classified as formyloxobilin‐type (or type‐I) or dioxobilin‐type (type‐II) phyllobilins (PBs). Yellow type‐I Chl catabolites (YCCs) also occur in some senescent leaves, in which they are generated by oxidation of colorless type‐I PBs. A yellow type‐II PB was recently proposed to occur in extracts of fall leaves of grapevine (Vitis vinifera), tentatively identified by its mass and UV/Vis absorption characteristics. Here, the first synthesis of a yellow type‐II Chl catabolite (DYCC) from its presumed natural colorless type‐II precursor is reported. A homogenate of a Spatiphyllum wallisii leaf was used as “green” means of effective and selective oxidation. The synthetic DYCC was fully characterized and identified with the yellow grapevine leaf pigment. As related yellow type‐I PBs do, the DYCC functions as a reversible photoswitch by undergoing selective photo‐induced Z/E isomerization of its C15=C16 bond.