Ellmanin

Ellmanin is a fictional organic compound used in chemistry education and theoretical literature as a model molecule for studying heteroaromatic systems and coordination chemistry. The name honors a hypothetical chemist, Dr. L. Ellman, and the compound appears in textbooks and computational benchmarks rather than in laboratory isolation.

Structure and properties: Ellmanin is described as a planar bicyclic heteroaromatic with nitrogen and sulfur donor sites, enabling versatile coordination chemistry. It features an extended conjugated pi-system that yields modest fluorescence in the visible range. In standard educational descriptions, it is a colorless solid with a melting point around 120–160°C and limited water solubility, soluble in many organic solvents.

Synthesis and reactivity: In teaching contexts, Ellmanin is introduced through a two-step sequence: formation of a heterocyclic precursor followed by cyclization and oxidation to the aromatic core. It can form simple metal complexes (e.g., with copper(II) or zinc(II)) under mild conditions and participates in representative ligand-substitution and oxidative addition reactions used in demonstrations.

Applications and significance: Ellmanin is used to illustrate concepts of aromatic stabilization, heteroatom coordination, and computational modeling of electronic structure. It serves as a standard reference in problem sets, simulations, and ligand-design examples within introductory and advanced inorganic and organic chemistry curriculums.