In organic chemistry, chlorins are tetrapyrrole pigments that are partially hydrogenated porphyrins. The parent chlorin is an unstable compound which undergoes air oxidation to porphine. The name chlorin derives from chlorophyll. Chlorophylls are magnesium-containing chlorins and occur as photosynthetic pigments in chloroplasts. The term "chlorin" strictly speaking refers to only compounds with the same ring oxidation state as chlorophyll.
Bacteriochlorophylls (BChl) are photosynthetic pigments that occur in various phototrophic bacteria. They were discovered by C. B. van Niel in 1932. They are related to chlorophylls, which are the primary pigments in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Organisms that contain bacteriochlorophyll conduct photosynthesis to sustain their energy requirements, but the process is anoxygenic and does not produce oxygen as a byproduct. They use wavelengths of light not absorbed by plants or cyanobacteria. Replacement of Mg2+ with protons gives bacteriophaeophytin (BPh), the phaeophytin form.
Uroporphyrinogen III synthase is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of the cyclic tetrapyrrole compound porphyrin. It is involved in the conversion of hydroxymethyl bilane into uroporphyrinogen III. This enzyme catalyses the inversion of the final pyrrole unit of the linear tetrapyrrole molecule, linking it to the first pyrrole unit, thereby generating a large macrocyclic structure, uroporphyrinogen III. The enzyme folds into two alpha/beta domains connected by a beta-ladder, the active site being located between the two domains.
Uroporphyrinogen III is a tetrapyrrole, the first macrocyclic intermediate in the biosynthesis of heme, chlorophyll, vitamin B12, and siroheme. It is a colorless compound, like other porphyrinogens.
Protoporphyrin IX is an organic compound, classified as a porphyrin, that plays an important role in living organisms as a precursor to other critical compounds like heme (hemoglobin) and chlorophyll. It is a deeply colored solid that is not soluble in water. The name is often abbreviated as PPIX.
Sir Alan Rushton Battersby was an English organic chemist best known for his work to define the chemical intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway to vitamin B12 and the reaction mechanisms of the enzymes involved. His research group was also notable for its synthesis of radiolabelled precursors to study alkaloid biosynthesis and the stereochemistry of enzymic reactions. He won numerous awards including the Royal Medal in 1984 and the Copley Medal in 2000. He was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours. Battersby died in February 2018 at the age of 92.
In enzymology, a precorrin-2 dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.76) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a precorrin-6A reductase (EC 1.3.1.54) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a precorrin-3B synthase (EC 1.14.13.83) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Sulfite reductases (EC 1.8.99.1) are enzymes that participate in sulfur metabolism. They catalyze the reduction of sulfite to hydrogen sulfide and water. Electrons for the reaction are provided by a dissociable molecule of either NADPH, bound flavins, or ferredoxins.
The enzyme sirohydrochlorin cobaltochelatase (EC 4.99.1.3) catalyzes the reaction
The enzyme sirohydrochlorin ferrochelatase (EC 4.99.1.4) catalyzes the following reaction:
Siroheme is a heme-like prosthetic group at the active sites of some enzymes to accomplish the six-electron reduction of sulfur and nitrogen. It is a cofactor at the active site of sulfite reductase, which plays a major role in sulfur assimilation pathway, converting sulfite into sulfide, which can be incorporated into the organic compound homocysteine.
Cobalamin biosynthesis is the process by which bacteria and archea make cobalamin, vitamin B12. Many steps are involved in converting aminolevulinic acid via uroporphyrinogen III and adenosylcobyric acid to the final forms in which it is used by enzymes in both the producing organisms and other species, including humans who acquire it through their diet.
In molecular biology, sirohaem synthase (CysG) is a multi-functional enzyme with S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM)-dependent bismethyltransferase, dehydrogenase and ferrochelatase activities. Bacterial sulphur metabolism depends on the iron-containing porphinoid sirohaem. CysG synthesizes sirohaem from uroporphyrinogen III via reactions which encompass two branchpoint intermediates in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis, diverting flux first from protoporphyrin IX biosynthesis and then from cobalamin biosynthesis. CysG is a dimer. Its dimerisation region is 74 amino acids long, and acts to hold the two structurally similar protomers held together asymmetrically through a number of salt-bridges across complementary residues within the dimerisation region. CysG dimerisation produces a series of active sites, accounting for CysG's multi-functionality, catalysing four diverse reactions:
F430 is the cofactor (sometimes called the coenzyme) of the enzyme methyl coenzyme M reductase (MCR). MCR catalyzes the reaction EC 2.8.4.1 that releases methane in the final step of methanogenesis:
Uroporphyrinogen-III C-methyltransferase, uroporphyrinogen methyltransferase, uroporphyrinogen-III methyltransferase, adenosylmethionine-uroporphyrinogen III methyltransferase, S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent uroporphyrinogen III methylase, uroporphyrinogen-III methylase, SirA, CysG, CobA, uroporphyrin-III C-methyltransferase, S-adenosyl-L-methionine:uroporphyrin-III C-methyltransferase) is an enzyme with systematic name S-adenosyl-L-methionine:uroporphyrinogen-III C-methyltransferase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Chlorophyllide a and Chlorophyllide b are the biosynthetic precursors of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b respectively. Their propionic acid groups are converted to phytyl esters by the enzyme chlorophyll synthase in the final step of the pathway. Thus the main interest in these chemical compounds has been in the study of chlorophyll biosynthesis in plants, algae and cyanobacteria. Chlorophyllide a is also an intermediate in the biosynthesis of bacteriochlorophylls.
Dihydrosirohydrochlorin is one of several naturally occurring tetrapyrrole macrocyclic metabolic intermediates in the biosynthesis of vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Its oxidised form, sirohydrochlorin, is precursor to sirohaem, the iron-containing prosthetic group in sulfite reductase enzymes. Further biosynthetic transformations convert sirohydrochlorin to cofactor F430 for an enzyme which catalyzes the release of methane in the final step of methanogenesis.
In biochemistry, chelatases are enzymes that catalyze the insertion ("metalation") of naturally occurring tetrapyrroles. Many tetrapyrrole-based cofactors exist in nature including hemes, chlorophylls, and vitamin B12. These metallo cofactors are derived by the reaction of metal cations with tetrapyrroles, which are not ligands per se, but the conjugate acids thereof. In the case of ferrochelatases, the reaction that chelatases catalyze is:
