An enzyme from Vibrio alginolyticus TK-24 which converted chitin to a novel pyrazine compound, VAPY was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and is suggested to be a novel enzyme as determined from examination of its ten N-terminal amino acid residue sequence and its characteristic activity. The structure of VAPY was elucidated by mass spectroscopy, H-1 nuclear-magnetic-resonance (H-1 NMR) and C-13 nuclear-magnetic-resonance (C-13 NMR) spectroscopy, and from the spectroscopic data it was determined to be a novel pyrazine compound.