Porphyrin

The Structure of porphyrin

The name porphyrin comes from a Greek word for “purple”. Porphyrin is a group of chemical compounds of which many occur in nature such as in green leaves and red blood cells. It contains four pyrrole rings. A pyrrole is a pentagon-shaped ring of four carbon atoms with a nitrogen atom at one corner (C4H5N). The porphyrins not only can be found all over the living world but they also bind to the metals. Metal ions such as magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), and silver (Ag) are grabed and holded by the four nitrogens in the middle of the porphyrin molecule (which act as teeth).


Importance of Porphyrin

When a porphyrin molecule grabs a metal, it acquires different properties and gets a different name. So, if the central metal is iron (Fe), the porphyrin complex is called ferroporphyrin, or heme. Hemoglobin has four of these heme groups. The iron ion of the heme group is responsible for binding the oxygen. The hemoglobin travels around the body, and when it reaches the tissues the iron in the porphyrin complex releases the oxygen to nourish them.

Moreover, chlorophyll, the all-important molecule that allows plants to do photosynthesis, and is responsible for plants' green color that is made up in part of a porphyrin molecule whose central metal ion is magnesium (Mg).The last but not the least, porphyrins which are universal, found in most living cells of animals and plants, where they perform a wide variety of functions.