Mg2+ in chlorophyll

[joonkimdds]

I found two problems saying that Mg2+ are in chlorophyll.
I know it now because I just encountered this problem twice, but I can't find this information from any of my study aid materials.
some books don't even explain what chlorophyll is... 🙁
other books just say chlorophyll is a pigment in thylakoid that absorbs light for photosynthesis and that's it. It doesn't explain about Mg2+.

Am i looking at the wrong chapter? where can I learn Mg2+ is in chlorophyll?

there was a problem saying that there is Fe2+ in hemoglobin but all of my study aid material say hemoglobin picks up oxygen and releases CO2 and that's it. 🙁

I think even Schaum's outline doesn't say any of these two.

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[lemoncurry]

part of a chlorophyll molecule (the "head") is a porphyrin ring, which has magnesium in it. I think you might find more info about that in a chemistry book, especially under porphyrin ring.

 

[Yellow Snow]

Ironically, I think the Kaplan blue book had this somewhere. I know it is one of the questions in the practice test inside the book and I got it right because I had read it in the book. Not sure where it is though.

 

[aranjuez]

Heme (in hemoglobin) is a porphyrin ring. Likewise, there is a porphyrin ring in chloroplasts. Like you stated, heme is complexed with iron (Fe2+) while chloroplasts have magnesium (Mg2+) complexed with them.

Just to make things more interesting... Manganese is also complexed with a protein that's responsible for photolysis in photosynthesis (H20 -> 2H+ + O2 + 2e-).

Fun... eh?

aranjuez

 

[lemoncurry]

there is porphyrin in hemoglobin as well, but it has Fe in it instead of Mg.


EDIT: beat me to it

 

[joonkimdds]

Heme (in hemoglobin) is a porphyrin ring. Likewise, there is a porphyrin ring in chloroplasts. Like you stated, heme is complexed with iron (Fe2+) while chloroplasts have magnesium (Mg2+) complexed with them.

Just to make things more interesting... Manganese is also complexed with a protein that's responsible for photolysis in photosynthesis (H20 -> 2H+ + O2 + 2e-).

Fun... eh?

aranjuez

1st of all, i've never heard of porphyrin ring.... 😕
if porphyrin ring is something that has magnesium, and if hemoglobin has porphyrin ring, shouldn't hemoglobin also have magnesium as well as iron?

and...yes it's from Kaplan blue book number 40(that is the last bio problem) and it says chlorophyll has magnesium and iron is found in hemoglobin, but I don't think i read that info in the book. I can only read it from solution 🙁

 

[lemoncurry]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyrin


there are links to chlorophyll and hemoglobin in that page, with accompanying pictures so you can get an idea of what it looks like.