256 LIGHT AND LIFE 



Hydrogenation of luciferin over palladium on charcoal results in 

 the ujDtake of one mole of hydrogen, and a compound Avith an al- 

 most identical ultraviolet spectrum to the very distinctive one of 

 the hydroxybenzothiazole (III) . Catalytic reduction of a thiazoline 

 is unlikely, and hydrolysis of the reduction product by acid produces 

 no change in the spectrum. 



These facts, together with excellent agreement between the proper- 

 ties of luciferin and those of certain model compounds, lead to the 

 probable structures for luciferin (I) and for oxyluciferin (II) . 



A more complete report, with further confirmatory evidence, will 

 be published elsewhere. 



Acknowledgments 



The investigations summarized in this paper were supported in part by the 

 Atomic Energy Commission, National Institutes of Health, National Science 

 Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. 



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