Cobalamin, methyl reduction

As a model study of methyl cobalamine (methyl transfer) in living bodies, a methyl radical, generated by the reduction of the /s(dimethylglyoximato)(pyridine)Co3+ complex to its Co1+ complex, reacts on the sulfur atom of thiolester via SH2 to generate an acyl radical and methyl sulfide. The formed methyl radical can be trapped by TEMPO or activated olefins [8-13]. As a radical character of real vitamin B12, the addition of zinc to a mixture of alkyl bromide (5) and dimethyl fumarate in the presence of real vitamin B12 at room temperature provides a C-C bonded product (6), through the initial reduction of Co3+ to Co1+ by zinc, reaction of Co1+ with alkyl bromide to form R-Co bond, its homolytic bond cleavage to form an alkyl radical, and finally the addition of the alkyl radical to diethyl fumarate, as shown in eq. 11.4 [14]. 

Figure 21-3. The methionine synthase reaction. Methionine synthase catalyzes the remethylation of homocysteine to methionine. In the first half reaction (1), a methyl group is transferred from 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) to the reduced form of cobalamin [Cob(I)], generating methyl-cobalamin [Methyl-Cob(III)] and tetrahydrofolate (THF). During the second half reaction (2), the methyl group is transferred from methylcobalamin to homocysteine, generating methionine. During the catalytic reaction, Cob(I) occasionally becomes oxidized, producing an inactive form of cobalamin, cob(II)alamin [Cob(II)]. The enzyme methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) then reactivates Cob(II) through reductive methylation, producing methyl-Cob(III). SAM, 5-adenosylmethionine SAH, 5-adeno-sylhomocysteine.

The cobalt(I) cobalamin catalyzed reduction of a-methyl-a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds produces the corresponding saturated derivatives having an (5)-configuration at the a-carbon (Scheme 81) 424 highest enantiomeric excess (33%) is exhibited by the (Z)-configurated methyl ketone. The... 

Only a few other cobalt complexes of the type covered in this review (and therefore excluding, for example, the cobalt carbonyls) have been reported to act as catalysts for homogeneous hydrogenation. The complex Co(DMG)2 will catalyze the hydrogenation of benzil (PhCOCOPh) to benzoin (PhCHOHCOPh). When this reaction is carried out in the presence of quinine, the product shows optical activity. The degree of optical purity varies with the nature of the solvent and reaches a maximum of 61.5% in benzene. It was concluded that asymmetric synthesis occurred via the formation of an organocobalt complex in which quinine was coordinated in the trans position (133). Both Co(DMG)2 and cobalamin-cobalt(II) in methanol will catalyze the following reductive methylations ... 

The loss of a methyl group from AdoMet in each of the reactions yields S-ad-enosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) and this is subsequently hydrolysed to adenosine and Hey by AdoHcy-hydrolase. Hey sits at a metabolic branch point and can be remethylated to methionine by way of two reactions. One is the 5-methyltetrahydrofo-late dependent reaction catalysed by methionine synthase, which itself is reductively methylated by cobalamin (vitamin B12) and AdoMet, requiring methionine synthase reductase. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate is generated from 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofo-late (MTHF) by MTHF reductase. The second remethylation reaction is catalysed by betaine methyltransferase, which is restricted to the liver, kidney and brain, while methionine synthase is widely distributed. 

The exact role of the nickel of F430 in methane formation is not clear at present. Analogy with the cobalamins, and the observation of an EPR-detectable reduced state, might suggest that it is involved in either methyl group transfer, reduction, or both. 

The reduction properties of the cobalamins also differ from the normal Co111 complexes in that they can be readily reduced to the Co1 state, e.g. as in the methylation reaction (9). The electrochemical properties of the cobalamins have recently been reviewed.151 Several reviews are also available concerning their biological activity, the mechanisms of reactions, and synthetic analogues.150,152-155... 

Cobalt accepts a methyl group from methyl-tetrahydrofolate, forming methyl Co +-cobalamin. Transfer of the methyl group onto homocysteine results in the formation of Co+-cobalamin, which can accept a methyl group from methyl-tetrahydrofolate to reform methyl Co +-cobalamin. However, except under strictly anaerobic conditions, demethylated Co+-cobalamin is susceptible to oxidation to Co +-cobalamin, which is catalyticaUy inactive. Reactivation of the enzyme requires reductive methylation, with S-adenosyl methionine as the methyl donor, and a flavoprotein linked to NADPH. For this reductive reactivation to occur, the dimethylbenzimidazole group of the coenzyme must be displaced from the cobalt atom by a histidine residue in the enzyme (Ludwig and Matthews, 1997). 

The half-wave potential for the enzyme-bound Co VCo cobalamin couple of the methionine synthase from E. coli at 526 mV versus SHE is about 80 mV lower than that of the Co /Cokcobalamin couple in neutral aqueous solution. Access to the catalytic cycle of the enzyme by one-electron reduction of Co kcobalamin (and reactivation upon occasional adventitious formation of Co -cobalamin) is indicated to be accomplished by a unique mechanism. The (thermodynamically unfavorable) reduction with intermediate formation of the enzyme-bound Cokcobalamin is driven by a rapid methylation of the highly reduced Co -center of the reduced corrin with Y-adenosyhnethionine. The modular nature of methionine synthase allows for the control of the methyl-group transfer processes by modulating and alternating conformational equilibria. ... 

Three methods of Co-C bond cleavage have been proposed to occur in cobalamins (Scheme 15). Heat or photochemical irradiation can induce homolysis of the Co-C bond with a consequent one-electron reduction of cobalt. Nucleophilic attack on the methyl group can occur, resulting in reduction of Co to Co. Electrophilic attack (e.g. mercmy methylation) can also occur, where the methyl group is transferred as a carbanion. " ... 

Cobalamin enzymes, which are present in most organisms, catalyze three types of reactions (1) intramolecular rearrangements (2) methylations, as in the synthesis of methionine (Section 24.2.7) and (3) reduction of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides (Section 25.3). In mammals, the conversion of 1-methylmalonyl CoA into succinyl CoA and the formation of methionine by methylation of homocysteine are the only reactions that are known to require coenzyme Bj2. The latter reaction is especially important because methionine is required for the generation of coenzymes that participate in the synthesis of purines and thymine, which are needed for nucleic acid synthesis. 

Most reports pertinent to Reaction (18) describe experiments with extracts or membrane preparations [117,377-380]. Results indicate involvement of corrinoid as an intermediate methyl carrier [379], and an oxygen-labile enzyme [377], similar to the methanohCoM methyltransferase system (MT ) of M. barkeri[ 5A], that requires ATP-dependent reductive activation for activity. Since M bryantii, M. formicicum [380], and M thermoautotrophicum possess cobalamin CoM methyltransferase activities that resemble the analogous protein MT2 in the methanol to CH3-C0M conversion pathway (see sections 3 and 4.13) [152], a scheme similar to that shown in Reactions (19) and (20) has been envisaged, where CH3-H4MPT replaces methanol in Reaction (28). Three recent reports [117,157,195] provide more information about this system, and are reviewed below. 

Methylation of homocysteine by 5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyl reductase depends on an adequate supply of 5-methyltetrahydrofoIate. The unmethylated folate is recycled in a cobalamin-dependent pathway, by remethylation to 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate, and subsequent reduction to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. The transferase enzyme, also named 5,10-methyltretrahydrofolate reductase catalyzes the whole cycle [3,91]. S-adenosylmethionine and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate are the most important methyl unit donors in biological system. S-adenosylmethionine is reported to regulate methylation and transsulfuration pathways in the homocysteine metabolism [3,91]. 

The interconversion of these forms of foiic acid takes place through various electron transfer reactions facilitated by specific enzyme systems and coenzymes, such as the reduced forms of fiavin-adenine dinucleotide (FADH2) and NADPH. The conversion between the N -, N -methylene form and -formyl forms is readily reversible, but the reduction of methylene to methyl and reduction of free THF to formyltetrahydrofolate is essentially irreversible. Conversion of N -methyltetrahydrofolate back to free THF. may require cobalamin. 

Adenosyl-cobalamine catalyzes hydrogen shifts as a special isomerisation reaction. With exception of reduction of ribonucleotides the H-shift occurs intramolecularly. Methyl-cobalamine and tetrahydrofolic add are the coenzymes in methylating homocysteine to methionine. 

Since the coenzyme from vitamin is required in two distinct enzyme reactions, i.e., remethylation of homocystine and catabolism of methylmalonic acid, the fundamental defect must involve a step in converting to its coenzymes. Formation of both deoxyadenosyl B and methyl B requires a prior reductive step catalyzed by cobalamin reductase, which appears to be the defective enzyme in this variant (Hogervorst et al., 2002) (Fig. 20.4). 

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