Production and Quenching of Reactive Oxygen Species by Pterin Derivatives, An Intriguing Class of Biomolecules (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Pterins, a family of heterocyclic compounds (Table 1), are present in biological systems in multiple forms and play different roles ranging from pigments to enzymatic cofactors for numerous redox and one-carbon transfer reactions [1,2]. These compounds are derived from 2-aminopteridin-4(1H)-one or pterin (Ptr). The most common pterin derivatives are 6-substituted compounds (Table 1). According to the molecular weight and the functional groups of these substituents, pterins can be divided into two groups: (1) unconjugated pterins, containing substituents with one carbon atom or a short hydrocarbon chain, and (2) conjugated pterins, with larger substituents containing a p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) moiety.