Types of Compounds. Ionic compounds are compounds composed of ions, charged particles that form when an atom (or group of atoms, in the case of polyatomic ions) gains or loses electrons. 1  A cation is a positively charged ion. 2  An anion is a negatively charged ion.
Porins are members of an extended family of transmembrane proteins found in the outer membrane of gram negative bacteria such as E. coli, or in the outer membranes of mitochondria in eukaryotes. The general porins provide a simple diffusion pathway across the membrane for molecules less than 1 kDa with little substrate selectivity.
The channel has a large diameter of 0.8x1.1nm, and is non-selective for small ions. However, it has an upper exclusion size limit corresponding to molecular weights of about 600 Dalton of permeants. Because most metabolites have molecular weights lower than 600 Da and have been shown to pass through porin channels, porins are called general diffusion pores.