Corrinoids
Encyclopedia
Corrin
Corrin is an heterocyclic compound. It is the parent macrocycle related to substituted derivative that is found in vitamin B12. Its name reflects that it is the "core" of vitamin B12 .-Coordination chemistry:...
, a cyclic system containing four pyrrole
Pyrrole
Pyrrole is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound, a five-membered ring with the formula C4H4NH. It is a colourless volatile liquid that darkens readily upon exposure to air. Substituted derivatives are also called pyrroles, e.g., N-methylpyrrole, C4H4NCH3...
rings similar to porphyrin
Porphyrin
Porphyrins are a group of organic compounds, many naturally occurring. One of the best-known porphyrins is heme, the pigment in red blood cells; heme is a cofactor of the protein hemoglobin. Porphyrins are heterocyclic macrocycles composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at...
s. These include compounds based on octadehydrocorrin, which has the trivial name corrole
Corrole
A corrole is an aromatic organic chemical, whose structure is in the form of the corrin ring which is also present in cobalamin . The ring consists of nineteen carbon atoms, with four nitrogen atoms in the core of the molecule....
.
The cobalamins (vitamin B12
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12, vitamin B12 or vitamin B-12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins...
) are the best known members of the group. Other prominent examples include cobyrinic acid and its hexaamide cobyric acid; cobinic acid and its hexaamide cobinamide; cobamic acid and cobamide.
Compounds containing the "Cob-" suffix (not corrin) are cobalt derivatives, and may include an oxidation state
Oxidation state
In chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. The formal oxidation state is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all bonds to atoms of different elements were 100% ionic. Oxidation states are typically represented by...
, as in "Cob(II)alamin". When cobalt is replaced by another metal or hydrogen, the name changes accordingly, as in ferrobamic acid or hydrogenobamic acid.