Pyrimidin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A six-membered aromatic ring containing two nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3, found in many natural and synthetic compounds
2. An aromatic heterocycle with six ring atoms including two nitrogens, serving as a core structure in nucleobases and pharmaceutical molecules
3. A nitrogen-containing organic ring compound with six members and aromatic character, commonly occurring in nucleic acids and drug synthesis

Etymology: Adolf Pinner, a German chemist, coined the name for this six-membered ring compound by building on the name of a relative. The parent was pyridine, a ring with one nitrogen atom. Pinner's new compounds had a second nitrogen placed at the meta position, and the name reflects that addition. The "-imidin" ending likely echoes "imide," a chemical term for a nitrogen-containing group. The "pyr-" in pyridine comes from Greek "pyr," meaning fire. Pyridine was first isolated from bone oil, the tarry product of heating bones, and it burned readily. The name therefore preserves a trace of how the parent compound was first obtained, a substance from heated residues named after flame.