Natural Occurrence of Enantiomeric and meso‐Astaxanthin 1. Ex Lobster Eggs ( Homarus gammarus)

• Published in: Helvetica Chimica Acta
• Main Authors: Rønneberg, Harald, Renstrøm, Britta, Aareskjold, Kåre, Liaaen‐Jensen, Synnøve, Vecchi, Max, Leuenberger, Franz J., Müller, Robert K., Mayer, Hans
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1980
• Subjects: Homarus gammarus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hlca.19800630321; http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhlca.19800630321; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fhlca.19800630321; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hlca.19800630321

Abstract Astaxanthin ( 1 3,3′‐dihydroxy‐β,β‐carotene‐4,4′‐dione) isolated from lobster eggs (Homarus gammarus) was unexpectedly found to be a mixture of all three optical isomers as determined by HPLC. analysis of the corresponding diesters of (–)‐camphanic acid. This is the first finding of meso ‐astaxanthin and a meso ‐carotenoid in general in nature.