indole

A white crystalline compound, C₈H₇N, obtained from coal tar or various plants and produced by the bacterial decomposition of tryptophan in the intestine. It is used in perfumes and as a reagent.

Any of various derivatives of this compound.

A white, crystalline substance, C8H7N, obtained from blue indigo, and almost all indigo derivatives, by a process of reduction; chemically, it is 2,3-benzopyrrole, a bicyclic heterocyclic compound, having a benzene ring fused to a pyrrole ring. It is also formed from proteinaceous matter, together with skatol, by putrefaction, and by fusion with caustic potash, and is present in human excrement, as well as in the intestinal canal of some herbivora. It is produced in rich growth media by the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli.

An organic compound, C8H7N, found in coal tar, and produced in the gut by the bacterial decomposition of tryptophan; it is an aromatic bicyclic heterocycle having a benzene ring fused with a pyrrole ring; indole and its derivatives occur widely in nature and have many industrial applications.

Any of the derivatives of indole1.