pyrimidine, any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a ring structure composed of four carbon atoms and two nitrogen atoms. The simplest member of the family is pyrimidine itself, with molecular formula C4H4N2.

Several pyrimidine compounds were isolated between 1837 and 1864, but their structures were not recognized until 1868. Some well-known pyrimidine compounds include cytosine, thymine, and uracil, present in nucleic acids; thiamine (vitamin B1); and sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, and sulfamethazine, drugs used in therapy of bacterial and viral diseases.

Key People:
Emil Fischer

purine, any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a two-ringed structure composed of carbon and nitrogen atoms. The simplest of the purine family is purine itself, a compound with a molecular formula C5H4N4. Purine is not common, but the purine structure occurs in many natural substances.

Uric acid, the first purine derivative to be discovered, was isolated in 1776 from urinary calculi; xanthine was obtained from the same source in 1817. Xanthine also occurs in tea, as does caffeine, another purine compound. Guanine, found in guano, the accumulated excrement and dead bodies of birds, bats, and seals, and adenine were identified in 1891 as products of the chemical decomposition of nucleic acids, the cell constituents that determine hereditary characteristics. Purine itself and several purine compounds were synthetically prepared from uric acid in the 1890s.