Abstract
DURING a study of plant keto-acids carried out by one of us (G. H. N. T.) under the direction of Prof. F. C. Steward at Cornell University, an unknown substance, hereafter designated compound I, was found in the keto-acid fraction of all plant tissues examined1. This substance was isolated in crystalline form (sint. 206°, decomp. 214°) from the keto-acid dinitrophenylhydrazone fraction of Mentha piperita leaves by elution from an alumina column with 1 per cent sodium carbonate. Its position on chromatograms was similar to that of the slower-moving spot of pyruvic acid dinitrophenylhydrazone (Fig. 1, ref. 1). The pyruvic acid spot developed a chocolate colour when sprayed with alkali, whereas compound I gave a yellow colour. On hydrogenation, compound I yielded a ninhydrin-reactive substance (compound II) which was chromatographically similar to γ-amino-butyric acid (Fig. 2, ref. 1). The infra-red absorption spectrum of compound I did not display the carboxyl peak characteristic of α-keto-acid dinitrophenyl-hydrazoness.
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Towers, G. H. N., Thompson, J. F., and Steward, F. C., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 76, 2392 (1954).
Brady, O. L., and Day, J. N. E., J. Chem. Soc., 123, 2266 (1923).
Isherwood, F. A., and Cruickshank, D. H., Nature, 173, 121 (1954).
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TOWERS, G., MORTIMER, D. Identification of an Artefact on Chromatograms of the Keto-acid 2,4-Dinitro-phenylhydrazones. Nature 174, 1189 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/1741189a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1741189a0
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