Question

Chlorophyll a appears __________ in color and chlorophyll b appears __________ in color in the chromatogram.
A. Bluish-green, yellowish-green
B. Yellowish green, bluish-green
C. Blue, blue
D. Green, green

Answer 1

Hint: Chlorophyll is the green pigment that is present in the leaves of plants. Chlorophyll is a photosynthetic pigment. It is of five types, chlorophyll a, b, c, d, and e. The chromatogram is the graph obtained as a result of chromatography.

Complete answer: Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in the leaves of plants and performs photosynthesis. It is found in the grana lamellae of the chloroplasts. Chlorophyll is the main pigment present in the plants. It is a fat-soluble pigment. Chlorophyll is further classified into five types. These five types are Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll b, Chlorophyll c, Chlorophyll d, and Chlorophyll e. Chlorophyll a is the universal pigment and the primary pigment. It is the universal pigment because all the photosynthetic eukaryotes and prokaryotes like cyanobacteria have it. It is the primary pigment because it is directly involved in the light reaction. It is bluish-green in color. The molecular formula of chlorophyll a is \[{C_{55}}{H_{72}}{O_5}{N_4}Mg\]. It has two extra atoms of hydrogen present in it. Due to this, it has an extra methyl group present. Chlorophyll b is the secondary pigment. It is yellowish-green in color. It is found in the green algae, euglenoids, and other higher plants. The molecular formula of chlorophyll a is \[{C_{55}}{H_{70}}{O_6}{N_4}Mg\]. It has an extra atom of oxygen present in it. Due to this, it has an extra aldehyde group present. Thus, based on the above information we can conclude that Chlorophyll a appears bluish-green in color, and chlorophyll b appears Yellowish green in color in the chromatogram.
Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Note: The structure of both the Chlorophyll a and Chlorophyll b molecule is the same. Both of these molecules have a head and a tail. The head is a porphyrin ring head which is made up of four tetrapyrrole rings with a magnesium atom in the center. The tail is a phytol tail that is made up of hydrocarbons with hydroxyl groups. The head and the tail are linked together by the ester bonds.