Indolequinones
Encyclopedia
Indole
Indole is an aromatic heterocyclic organic compound. It has a bicyclic structure, consisting of a six-membered benzene ring fused to a five-membered nitrogen-containing pyrrole ring. Indole is a popular component of fragrances and the precursor to many pharmaceuticals. Compounds that contain an...
but have two additional ketone
Ketone
In organic chemistry, a ketone is an organic compound with the structure RCR', where R and R' can be a variety of atoms and groups of atoms. It features a carbonyl group bonded to two other carbon atoms. Many ketones are known and many are of great importance in industry and in biology...
groups (quinone
Quinone
A quinone is a class of organic compounds that are formally "derived from aromatic compounds [such as benzene or naphthalene] by conversion of an even number of –CH= groups into –C– groups with any necessary rearrangement of double bonds," resulting in "a fully conjugated cyclic dione structure."...
) attached to the ring structure.
This simple indolequinone indole-5,6-quinone
Indole-5,6-quinone
Indole-5,6-quinone is an indolequinone, a chemical compound found in the oxidative browning reaction of fruits like bananas where it is mediated by the tyrosinase type polyphenol oxidase from tyrosine and catecholamines leading to the formation of catechol melanin....
is produced during the ripening of some fruit.
Other examples of indolequinones include natural compound mitomycin
Mitomycin
The mitomycins are a family of aziridine-containing natural products isolated from Streptomyces caespitosus or Streptomyces lavendulae. One of these compounds, mitomycin C, finds use as a chemotherapeutic agent by virtue of its antitumour antibiotic activity. It is given intravenously to treat...
and the related chemotherapeutic agent apaziquone
Apaziquone
Apaziquone is an indolequinone that is a bioreductive prodrug and a chemical analog of the older chemotherapeutic agent mitomycin C. In hypoxic cells, such as those on the inner surface of the urinary bladder, apaziquone is converted to active metabolites by intracellular reductases. The active...
.