Structure of commelinin, a blue complex pigment from the blue flowers of Commelina communis

Masaaki SHIONO; Naohiro MATSUGAKI; Kosaku TAKEDA

doi:10.2183/pjab.84.452

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B

Online ISSN : 1349-2896
Print ISSN : 0386-2208
ISSN-L : 0386-2208

Original Paper

Structure of commelinin, a blue complex pigment from the blue flowers of Commelina communis

Masaaki SHIONO, Naohiro MATSUGAKI, Kosaku TAKEDA

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Keywords: commelinin, metal complex, blue pigment, anthocyanin, X-ray crystal structure

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2008 Volume 84 Issue 10 Pages 452-456

DOI https://doi.org/10.2183/pjab.84.452

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Abstract

The X-ray crystal structure of natural commelinin is investigated. The results demonstrate that commelinin is a tetranuclear (4 Mg²⁺) metal complex, in which two Mg²⁺ ions chelate to six anthocyanin molecules, while the other two Mg²⁺ ions bind to six flavone molecules, stabilizing the commelinin complex, a new type of supramolecular complex.

(Communicated by Shoji SHIBATA, M.J.A.)

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