Formula C19H22N4 | ||
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Corrin is a 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 (cobalamins).
Coordination chemistry
Upon deprotonation, the corrinoid ring is capable of binding cobalt. In vitamin B12, the resulting complex also features a benzimidazole-derived ligand, and the sixth site on the octahedron serves as the catalytic center.
The corrin ring resembles the porphyrin ring, which occurs in hemoglobin. Both feature four pyrrole-like subunits organized into a ring with a largely conjugated structure of alternating double and single bonds. In contrast to porphyrins, corrins lack one of the carbon groups that link the pyrrole-like units into a fully conjugated structure. With a conjugated system that extends only 3/4 of the way around the ring, and does not include any of the outer edge carbons, corrins have a number of non-conjugated sp3 carbons, making them more flexible than porphyrins and not as flat. A third closely related biological structure, the chlorin ring system found in chorophyll, is intermediate between porphyrin and corrin, having 20 carbons like the porphyrins and a conjugated structure extending all the way around the central atom, but with only 6 of the 8 edge carbons participating.
Corroles (octadehydrocorrins) are fully aromatic derivatives of corrins.