Sodium borohydride is a well known reducing agent. In methanol at room temperature formyl and keto groups are readily reduced to alcohol groups, while ester and carboxyl groups, carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen double bonds are only reduced with difficulty (2, 17). Of the groups present in chlorophyll b the C3 formyl and the C9 keto groups should be amenable to reduction, while the C2 vinyl an...