Re: What is the chemical structure of the pteridines in the eyes of Drosphilia?

I found the following list of pigments in the Drosophila eye:

sosepiapterin (yellow)
Biopterin (blue)
2-amino-4-hydroxypterin (blue)
Sepiapterin (yellow)
Xanthopterin (green-blue)
Isoxanthopterin (violet-blue)
Drosopterin (orange)

(refer to http://bio tech.biology.arizona.edu/labs/Drosophila_teach.html)

To find the structures of these compounds, you can try either looking on the world wide web, or going to the library and looking for the following references:

THE MERCK INDEX
THE CRC HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
THE DICTIONARY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ALDRICH CATALOG
SIGMA CATALOG

(the last two are catalogs for chemical companies that are liable to sell these compounds)

Any or all of these can probably show the structure of the compounds you are looking for. You'll probably need to go to a college library for these references. If you can't, ask your teacher if he or she can get them for you.

Good luck with your project!