Tetrahedron

Oxidative degradation of melanins to pyrrole acids: a model study

A Napolitano, A Pezzella, MR Vincensi, G Prota

Index: Napolitano, Alessandra; Pezzella, Alessandro; Vincensi, M. Rosaria; Prota, Giuseppe Tetrahedron, 1995 , vol. 51, # 20 p. 5913 - 5920

Full Text: HTML

Citation Number: 69

Abstract

The origin of pyrrole-2, 3, 5-tricarboxylic acid (PTCA), the most characteristic degradation product of melanins, was investigated by use of synthetic pigments prepared from the major biosynthetic precursors, 5, 6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5, 6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA). Under the reported conditions, ie acidic permanganate, oxidative degradation of DHI-and DHICA-melanins afforded PTCA in 0.15 and 3.0% w/w yield, respectively. A ...