A Rapid Preparative Method for Purification of Bacteriochlorophyll A and B

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Abstract
For the purification of bacteriochlorophyll a and b (BChl), which are rather susceptible to e.g. oxygen, light, and polar solvents, a rapid and efficient purification method is described. After extraction of the cells with methanol-water, an octadecyl silica cartridge is used for retention of the BChl and thus polar compounds are removed from the complex mixture. Ethanol elutes the BChl, while less polar compounds remain on the cartridge. High performance liquid chromatography on reversed phase columns (rp-HPLC) proved to be a powerful tool in obtaining highly purified BChl, as controlled by analytical rp-HPLC, visible (VIS) spectroscopy, gas liquid chromatography (GLC), and SDS-polacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE).