Purines are a family of heterocyclic aromatic compounds containing two fused six- and five-membered rings, essential as components of nucleic acids and certain coenzymes. In biology and chemistry, purines refer to the class of nitrogen-containing compounds from which adenine and guanine are derived, and they play critical roles in metabolism and genetic information storage. The term also appears in biochemistry to describe related purine bases and nucleosides.
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