Hydroxymethylbilane, also known as preuroporphyrinogen, is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

that occurs in living organisms during the synthesis of

porphyrin Porphyrins ( ) are a group of heterocyclic macrocycle organic compounds, composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at their α carbon atoms via methine bridges (=CH−). The parent of porphyrin is porphine, a rare chemical com ...

s, a group of critical substances that include

haemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

, myoglobin, and

chlorophyll Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...

. The name is often abbreviated as HMB. The compound is a substituted

bilane In organic chemistry, bilane is a compound with the formula or . It is a tetrapyrrole, a class of compounds with four independent pyrrole rings. Specifically, the molecule can be described as four pyrrole molecules connected in an open chain by ...

, a chain of four

pyrrole Pyrrole is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound, a five-membered ring with the formula C4 H4 NH. It is a colorless volatile liquid that darkens readily upon exposure to air. Substituted derivatives are also called pyrroles, e.g., ''N''-meth ...

rings interconnected by

methylene bridge In organic chemistry, a methylene bridge, methylene spacer, or methanediyl group is any part of a molecule with formula ; namely, a carbon atom bound to two hydrogen atoms and connected by single bonds to two other distinct atoms in the rest of t ...

s . The chain starts with a hydroxymethyl group and ends with an

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

, in place of the respective methylene bridges. The other two carbon atoms of each pyrrole cycle are connected to an

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...

group and a propionic acid group , in that order. The compound is generated from four molecules of

porphobilinogen Porphobilinogen (PBG) is an organic compound that occurs in living organisms as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of porphyrins, which include critical substances like hemoglobin and chlorophyll. The structure of the molecule can be described a ...

by the

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

porphobilinogen deaminase Porphobilinogen deaminase (hydroxymethylbilane synthase, or uroporphyrinogen I synthase) is an enzyme () that in humans is encoded by the HMBS gene. Porphobilinogen deaminase is involved in the third step of the heme biosynthetic pathway. It catal ...

Pre-uroporphyrinogen-synthesis-from-porphobilinogen

The enzyme

uroporphyrinogen III synthase Uroporphyrinogen III synthase () is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of the cyclic tetrapyrrole compound porphyrin. It is involved in the conversion of hydroxymethyl bilane into uroporphyrinogen III Uroporphyrinogen III is a tetrapyrrole, ...

closes the chain to form a

porphyrinogen In biochemistry a porphyrinogen is a member of a class of naturally occurring compounds with a tetrapyrrole core, a macrocycle Macrocycles are often described as molecules and ions containing a ring of twelve or more atoms. Classical examples in ...

a class of compounds with the

hexahydroporphine Hexahydroporphine is an organic chemical compound with formula . The molecule consists of four pyrrole rings connected by methylene bridges into a larger (non-aromatic) macrocycle ring, which makes it one of the simplest tetrapyrroles, and the ...

macrocycle; specifically,

uroporphyrinogen III Uroporphyrinogen III is a tetrapyrrole, the first macrocyclic intermediate in the biosynthesis of heme, chlorophyll, vitamin B12, and siroheme. It is a colorless compound, like other porphyrinogens. Structure The molecular structure of uroporphy ...

. In the absence of the enzyme, the compound undergoes spontaneous cyclization and becomes

uroporphyrinogen I Uroporphyrinogen I is an isomer of uroporphyrinogen III, a metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of heme. A type of porphyria is caused by production of uroporphyrinogen I instead of III. Biosynthesis and metabolism In living organisms, ur ...

References

{{Heme metabolism intermediates Tetrapyrroles Carboxylic acids