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Australian Journal of Chemistry Australian Journal of Chemistry Society
An international journal for chemical science
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Pigments of marine animals. IV. The anthraquinoid pigments of the crinoids, Comatula pectinata L. and C. cratera A. H. Clark

MD Sutherland and JW Wells

Australian Journal of Chemistry 20(3) 515 - 533
Published: 1967

Abstract

A review of the literature describing the pigments of the crinoids (phylum Echinodermata) reveals a prevalence of indicator-type pigments which are of unknown nature, except for certain polyhydroxy-meso- naphthodianthrones isolated from a fossilized Jurassic stalked crinoid. The highly coloured free-swimming crinoids, Comatula pectinata L. and C. cratera A. H. Clark, contain mixtures of indicator-type pigments which have been separated by adsorption chromatography on magnesium carbonate to yield three principal constituents, the 6-methyl and the 6,8-dimethyl ethers of rhodocomatulin, and a monomethyl ether of rubrocomatulin. The structure of the rhodocomatulin skeleton is shown to be 4-butyryl-1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone rather than 2- butyryl-1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone as previously suggested.1

https://doi.org/10.1071/CH9670515

© CSIRO 1967

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