Xanthophyll

Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group. The name is from Greek xanthos (ξανθος, "yellow") + phyllon (φύλλον, "leaf"), due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments. Their molecular structure is similar to carotenes, which form the other major carotenoid group division, but xanthophylls contain oxygen atoms, while carotenes are purely hydrocarbons with no oxygen. Xanthophylls contain their oxygen either as hydroxyl groups and/or as pairs of hydrogen atoms that are substituted by oxygen atoms acting as a bridge (epoxide). For this reason, they are more polar than the purely hydrocarbon carotenes, and it is this difference that allows their separations from carotenes in many types of chromatography. Typically, carotenes are more orange in color than xanthophylls.