ingerine

Ingerine is a fictional chemical compound created for use in science fiction, educational simulations, and problem sets. It is described as a heteroaromatic compound with a fused ring system and a variable side chain, allowing a range of physical properties across different portrayals.

In many depictions, ingerine's core is a planar heteroaromatic scaffold containing nitrogen atoms in the ring. The side chain is variable, giving predictions of solubility from highly hydrophobic to moderately polar. Across works, ingerine is portrayed as chemically versatile, able to undergo typical heterocycle reactions and to form salts with acids.

Representative fictional syntheses start from a simple amine and an aldehyde to form an imine, followed by cyclization and aromatization to produce the fused ring system. Variants introduce additional heteroatoms or substituents, but the general pathway emphasizes accessible starting materials and common reaction steps used in heterocycle chemistry.

In fiction and educational contexts, ingerine is used as a reagent or probe to illustrate structure–property relationships, reaction mechanisms, and medicinal chemistry concepts, without referring to a real compound.

As a fictional entity, ingerine has no real-world regulatory status or safety data. The name appears to be a constructed term, drawing on the chemical suffix -ine and a suggested origin related to a character or place named Inger.