Hydroxymethylated Dioxobilins in Senescent Arabidopsis thaliana Leaves: Sign of a Puzzling Biosynthetic Intermezzo of Chlorophyll Breakdown

1‐Formyl‐19‐oxobilin‐type tetrapyrroles are characteristic, abundant products of chlorophyll breakdown in senescent leaves. However, in some leaves, 1,19‐dioxobilin‐type chlorophyll catabolites (DCCs) lacking the formyl group accumulate instead. A P450 enzyme was identified in in vitro studies that removed the formyl group of a primary fluorescent chlorophyll catabolite (pFCC) and generated fluorescent DCCs. These DCCs are precursors of isomeric nonfluorescent DCCs (NDCCs). Here, we report a structural investigation of the NDCCs in senescent leaves of wild‐type Arabidopsis thaliana. Four new NDCCs were characterized, two of which carried a stereoselectively added hydroxymethyl group. Such formal DCC hydroxymethylations were previously found in DCCs in leaves of a mutant of A. thaliana. They are now indicated to be a feature of chlorophyll breakdown in A. thaliana, associated with the specific in vivo deformylation of pFCC en route to NDCCs.