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A simple heme-imidazole compound, having the same geometry as the heme-imidazole complex in myoglobin, has been synthesized. This compound, ferropyrroporphyrin-N-[3-(1-imidazolyl)propyl]amide, reversibly binds oxygen in the solid state or when dissolved in a polystyrene film. These results suggest that the principal factors governing reversible oxygen binding are the electronic nature of the base (imidazole), neighboring-group effects of the basic group, and immobilization of the heme group.
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Chang et al. (1973) studied this question.
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