Such topologically complex structures serve as a challenge to chemists to control the connectivity of the intricate interweaving of the molecular strands and are the impetus to the discoveries of new chemical methodologies. Structure of a Zinc-porphyrin with attached imidazole and carbon monoxide ligands. Contributed by Kim Baldridge, Principal Scientist at SDSC and Associate Adjunct Professor at UC San Diego. Porphyrins are at the core of many biologically important chemical reactions. They are the principal carriers of oxygen in hemoglobin, they are the mediators of electron transfer in photosynthesis and other oxidation-reduction enzymes, and they are the reactive sites for metabolic oxidation in the liver.
Carbon monoxide binding to iron porphyrins is the key pathway for carbon monoxide poisoning.
To better understand the mechanism of action of this important biochemical unit, the structure and properties of various porphyrins have been calculated form quantum mechanical principles. This image, created with the QMView software package, shows many facets of a Zinc-porphyrin with attached imidazole and carbon monoxide ligands. The sun shape begins as a simple sphere filling a volume of space. The sphere is then purturbed by a complex turbulence function that twists the surface into fiery tendrils. This shows a violently disturbed stellar surface, and does not represent the appearance of a normal star.