porphin Chem.
(ˈpɔːfɪn)
Also -ine.
[a. G. porphin (Fischer & Halbig 1926, in Ann. der Chem. CDXLVIII. 194), f. porph(yr)in porphyrin.]
A synthetic, purple, crystalline solid, C20H14N4, which has a macrocyclic aromatic molecule consisting of four pyrrole residues linked by {b1}CH{b2} groups, and from which the porphyrins are formally derived; now also = porphyrin.
| 1926 Brit. Chem. Abstr. A. 963/1 The name ‘porphin’ is suggested for the parent substance of (II), containing no β-substituents. 1939 Nature 10 June 967/1 The chlorophyll molecule may be likened to a signet, or rubber stamp, the disk representing a so-called porphine ring. 1939 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) III. 82/2 Porphin and the porphyrins..possess a characteristic type of absorption spectrum, and the power to form stable derivatives with metals, in which the two imino-hydrogen atoms are substituted, e.g. by a divalent metal atom. 1954 A. White et al. Princ. Biochem. x. 201 Porphin was first synthesized by Hans Fischer and Gleim in 1935; the compound is not known to occur in nature. 1966 O. Rev. Chem. Soc. XX. 211 When each of the four pyrrole rings of a porphin bears two different substituents A and B in the β-positions, then four isomers exist. 1968 I. L. Finar Org. Chem. (ed. 4) II. xix. 797 Fleischer et al. (1965) have also examined porphin by X-ray analysis, and found the molecule is nearly planar, the observed small deviations from planarity not being large enough to be significant. Ibid., Substituted porphins are known as porphyrins. 1973 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XCV. 8506/2 The porphine used in this study was prepared by the acid-catalyzed condensation of pyrrole-2-carbinol in 10% acetic acid-xylene solution. |