| Abstract: | Contribution to the Analytical Separation and the Synthesis of 3-Hydroxy-4-oxocarotenoids (3RS,3′RS)-Astaxanthin (= 3,3′-dihydroxy-β,β-carotene-4,4′-dione, 1:1-mixture of racemate and meso-form; 1 ) can be separated into its optical isomers (3S,3′S)- 1a , (3R,3′R)- 1b and meso-(3R,3′S)- 1c via the corresponding diastereomeric di-(?)-camphanates. Some aspects of the configurational stability of astaxanthin are discussed. - HPLC. analysis of the (?)-camphanates of 3-hydroxy-4-oxocarotenoids provides, in suitable cases and supported by spectroscopic data, an analytical method for the simultaneous determination of constitution and chirality. |
