Haematin
A dark bluish or brownish iron pigment formed by oxidising haem
No single value: Haematin is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, brown.
Haematin is a pigment with a dark blue or brown colour, formed when haem is oxidised and the iron is in its ferric state. It is used in medicine to treat porphyrias and is also found in cytochromes and peroxidases, as well as being made synthetically for laboratory use.
- Haematin is dark blue or brown in colour.
- It is formed by oxidising haem.
- Used in medicine to treat porphyrias.
- Synthetic haematin is used as a laboratory reagent.
What colour is Haematin?
Haematin is a pigment that appears dark blue or brown. It contains iron in the ferric (oxidised) form and is produced when haem, the iron-containing part of haemoglobin, is exposed to oxygen. This sets it apart from related pigments by its distinct colour and its chemical state, which is different from the iron in haemoglobin.
Where does Haematin come from?
The name haematin comes from its relationship to haem, the pigment in blood. Haematin is formed by oxidising haem, which changes the iron from its ferrous to its ferric state. The pigment has been studied for its role in biology and medicine, especially for its effects on certain blood disorders.
How is Haematin made?
Haematin is obtained by oxidising haem, which means exposing haem to oxygen so the iron changes to the ferric state. It can also be made synthetically from hemin, a related compound. The synthetic form is often used in laboratories as a reagent.
Where Haematin is used
Haematin is used in medicine to treat porphyrias, a group of disorders related to blood pigments. It is also a component of cytochromes and peroxidases, which are important in biological processes. In laboratories, synthetic haematin is used as a reagent for various tests.
Brown around the world
What the brown family means from country to country.
Brown is the colour of Nazism in German political speech, after the brown shirts of the party's stormtroopers. To call a view "brown" is to call it far right.
Politics and protestDanger and warningShameSource: SturmabteilungMasi is bark cloth beaten from paper mulberry and printed in brown and black. It is worn at weddings and funerals and given in ceremonial exchanges.
Sacred and holyWeddings and marriageSource: Tapa clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsThe batik of the Javanese courts at Yogyakarta and Surakarta is dyed in soga brown with indigo and cream. Some court patterns were once reserved for the royal family.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: BatikBogolanfini, or mud cloth, is cotton painted with fermented river mud in browns, black and white. Hunters wear it for protection, and women after childbirth.
Protection and healingSacred and holySource: B貌g貌lanfiniShades and relatives of Haematin
Haematin may be confused with similar pigments such as haem or hemin, but differs in its oxidation state and colour. It is also known by several other names, including ferriheme and hydroxyhemin.
Questions people ask about Haematin
What colour is haematin?
Haematin is a pigment that appears dark bluish or brownish, depending on its form.
Where does the name haematin come from?
The name comes from its connection to haem, the iron-containing pigment found in blood.
How is haematin made?
Haematin is made by oxidising haem, changing the iron to its ferric state. It can also be produced synthetically from hemin.
What is haematin used for?
It is used in medicine to treat porphyrias and as a reagent in laboratory tests.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Haematin", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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