purine

purine
/pyoor"een, -in/, n. Chem., Biochem.
1. a white, crystalline compound, C5H4N4, from which is derived a group of compounds including uric acid, xanthine, and caffeine.
2. one of several purine derivatives, esp. the bases adenine and guanine, which are fundamental constituents of nucleic acids.
[1895-1900; < G Purin. See PURE, URIC, -INE2]

* * *

Any of a class of heterocyclic compounds with a two-ring structure composed of carbon and nitrogen atoms.

The simplest member, purine itself (C5H4N4), is not common, but its derivatives with the structure are. Examples are uric acid, caffeine, and two of the nucleotides in nucleic acids, guanine and adenine.

* * *

      any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a two-ringed structure composed of carbon and nitrogen atoms. The simplest of the purine family is purine itself, a compound with a molecular formula C5H4N4. Purine is not common, but the purine structure occurs in many natural substances.

       uric acid, the first purine derivative to be discovered, was isolated in 1776 from urinary calculi; xanthine was obtained from the same source in 1817. Xanthine also occurs in tea, as does caffeine, another purine compound. guanine, found in guano, the accumulated excrement and dead bodies of birds, bats, and seals, and adenine were identified in 1891 as products of the chemical decomposition of nucleic acids, the cell constituents that determine hereditary characteristics. Purine itself and several purine compounds were synthetically prepared from uric acid in the 1890s.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Purine — Structure et représentation de la 9H Purine ou (3H imidazo)[4,5 d]pyrimidine Général …   Wikipédia en Français

  • purine — [ pyrin ] n. f. • 1904; all. Purin, dér. sav. du rad. du lat. purus « pur » et de urique ♦ Biochim. Substance azotée basique dont la structure comporte deux chaînes fermées (l une à 5, l autre à 6 atomes). ● purine nom féminin Composé… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • purine — [pyoor′ēn΄, pyoor′in] n. [Ger purin < L purus, pure + ModL uricum, uric acid + in, INE3] 1. a colorless, crystalline organic compound, C5H4N4, the parent substance of the uric acid group of compounds 2. any of several basic substances produced …   English World dictionary

  • purine — purine. См. пурин. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • purine — 1898, from Ger. purin, said to be from L. purum “pure” (see PURE (Cf. pure)) + Mod.L. uricum “uric acid” + chemical suffix INE (Cf. ine) (2) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Purine — chembox ImageFile=Purine chemical structure.png ImageSize= 345px ImageFile2= IUPACName=7H purine OtherNames= Section1= Chembox Identifiers CASNo=120 73 0 PubChem=1044 ChemSpiderID = 1015 SMILES=C1=C2C(=NC=N1)N=CN2 MeSHName=Purine Section2=… …   Wikipedia

  • Purine — Strukturformel Allgemeines Name Purin Andere Namen 3,5,7 Triazaindol 7H Imidazo(4,5 d)pyrimidin …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Purine — One of the two classes of bases in DNA and RNA. The purine bases are guanine (G) and adenine (A). Uric acid, the offending substance in gout, is a purine end product. * * * The parent substance of adenine, guanine, and other naturally occurring p …   Medical dictionary

  • purine — noun Etymology: German Purin, from Latin purus pure + New Latin uricus uric (from English uric) + German in 2 ine Date: 1898 1. a crystalline base C5H4N4 that is the parent of compounds of the uric acid group 2. a derivative of purine; especially …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • purine — (pu rin) A basic, heterocyclic, nitrogen containing molecule with two joined rings that occurs in nucleic acids and other cell constituents; most purines are oxy or amino derivatives of the purine skeleton. The most important purines are adenine… …   Dictionary of microbiology

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”