Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 22, 2026

Chlorophyll f

Chlorophyll f is a form of chlorophyll that absorbs further into the red spectrum than other chlorophylls. In 2010, it was reported by Min Chen to be present in stromatolites from Western Australia's Shark Bay. It has been found in cyanobacteria inside deep caves which appear perfectly dark in the visible light spectrum, but are lit up in near-infrared light which reflects more effectively from the rocks, allowing the cyanobacteria to photosynthesize using light with a wavelength as long as 780nm.

Last revised
Jul 22, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
525 w
Citations
10
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Chlorophyll f
source ↗
Names
IUPAC name
[methyl 14-ethyl-8-formyl-4,13,18-trimethyl-20-oxo-3-{3-oxo-3-[(3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadec-2-en-1-yl)oxy]propyl}-9-vinylphorbine-21-carboxylatato(2−)-κ4N23,N24,N25,N26]magnesium
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
  • InChI=1S/C55H71N4O6.Mg/c1-12-38-35(8)42-27-46-39(13-2)41(30-60)47(57-46)28-43-36(9)40(52(58-43)50-51(55(63)64-11)54(62)49-37(10)44(59-53(49)50)29-45(38)56-42)23-24-48(61)65-26-25-34(7)22-16-21-33(6)20-15-19-32(5)18-14-17-31(3)4;/h13,25,27-33,36,40,51H,2,12,14-24,26H2,1,3-11H3,(H-,56,57,58,59,60,62);/q-1;+2/p-1/b34-25+;/t32-,33-,36+,40+,51-;/m1./s1
    Key: FBMIDEWOZNHQKD-VBYMZDBQSA-M
  • CCC1=C(C2=NC1=CC3=C(C4=C([N-]3)C(=C5[C@H]([C@@H](C(=N5)C=C6C(=C(C(=C2)[N-]6)C=C)C=O)C)CCC(=O)OC/C=C(\C)/CCC[C@H](C)CCC[C@H](C)CCCC(C)C)[C@H](C4=O)C(=O)OC)C)C.[Mg+2]
  • COC(=O)C9C(=O)c6c(C)c3n7c6c9c2C(CCC(=O)COCC=C(C)CCCC(C)CCCC(C)CCCC(C)C)C(C)c1cc5n8c(cc4n([Mg]78n12)c(c=3)c(CC)c4c)c(C=C)c5C=O
Properties
C55H70O6N4Mg1
Molar mass 907.4725 g/mol
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Chlorophyll f (Chl f) is a form of chlorophyll that absorbs further into the red (near-infrared light) spectrum than other chlorophylls. In 2010, it was reported by Min Chen to be present in stromatolites from Western Australia's Shark Bay.23 It has been found in cyanobacteria inside deep caves which appear perfectly dark in the visible light spectrum, but are lit up in near-infrared light which reflects more effectively from the rocks, allowing the cyanobacteria to photosynthesize using light with a wavelength as long as 780nm.45

The function of Chl f in photosynthetic reactions in plants and the wider ecological distribution of Chl f remains little studied. Chl f has been shown to support some of the roles in photosynthetic reactions, in both the energy transfer and in the charge separation processes.6789

Chl f is produced from chlorophyllide f by chlorophyll synthase. Chlorophyllide f is made from chlorophyllide a by an enzyme known as PsbA4 or ChlF.10

References

References

  1. Willows, Robert D.; Li, Yaqiong; Scheer, Hugo; Chen, Min (15 March 2013). "Structure of chlorophyll f". Organic Letters. 15 (7): 1588–1590. doi:10.1021/ol400327j. PMID 23496297.
  2. Chen, M.; Schliep, M.; Willows, R.D.; Cai, Z.-L.; Neilan, B.A.; Scheer, H. (2010). "A red-shifted chlorophyll". Science. 329 (5997): 1318–1319. Bibcode:2010Sci...329.1318C. doi:10.1126/science.1191127. PMID 20724585. S2CID 206527174.
  3. Jabr, Ferris (August 19, 2010). "A new form of chlorophyll?". Scientific American. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
  4. Behrendt L, Trampe EL, Nord NB, Nguyen J, Kühl M, Lonco D, Nyarko A, Dhinojwala A, Hershey OS, Barton H. Life in the dark: far-red absorbing cyanobacteria extend photic zones deep into terrestrial caves. Environ Microbiol. 2020 Mar;22(3):952-963. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14774 PMID 31390129
  5. Fox-Skelly J. 'They've probably been untouched for 49 million years': The New Mexico cave expanding our search for alien life. BBC News 3 February 2026
  6. Nürnberg, Dennis J.; Morton, Jennifer; Santabarbara, Stefano; Telfer, Alison; Joliot, Pierre; Antonaru, Laura A.; et al. (2018). "Photochemistry beyond the red limit in chlorophyll f–containing photosystems". Science. 360 (6394): 1210–1213. Bibcode:2018Sci...360.1210N. doi:10.1126/science.aar8313. hdl:10044/1/63104. ISSN 0036-8075. OCLC 7735829001. PMID 29903971.
  7. Zamzam, Noura; Kaucikas, Marius; Nürnberg, Dennis J.; Rutherford, A. William; van Thor, Jasper J. (2019). "Femtosecond infrared spectroscopy of chlorophyll f-containing photosystem I". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 21 (3): 1224–1234. Bibcode:2019PCCP...21.1224Z. doi:10.1039/C8CP05627G. hdl:10044/1/66728. ISSN 1463-9076. OCLC 7943211172. PMID 30566126. S2CID 56477664.
  8. Dunning, Hayley (June 14, 2018). "New type of photosynthesis discovered". Phys.org. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  9. Consoli, Giovanni; Tufail, Fiazall; Leong, Ho Fong; Viola, Stefania; Davis, Geoffry A.; Rew, Nicholas; Medranda, Daniel; Hofer, Michael; Simpson, Paul; Sandrin, Marco; Chachuat, Benoit; Nelson, Jenny; Renger, Thomas; Murray, James W.; Fantuzzi, Andrea (2025-10-09). "Locating the missing chlorophylls f in far-red photosystem I". Science. 0 (0) eado6830. doi:10.1126/science.ado6830. PMID 41066538.
  10. Tsuzuki, Yuki; Tsukatani, Yusuke; Yamakawa, Hisanori; Itoh, Shigeru; Fujita, Yuichi; Yamamoto, Haruki (29 March 2022). "Effects of Light and Oxygen on Chlorophyll d Biosynthesis in a Marine Cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina". Plants. 11 (7): 915. doi:10.3390/plants11070915. PMC 9003380. PMID 35406896.