Cobalamins cleavage

FIGURE 24.21 A mechanism for the methylmalonyl-CoA mntase reaction. In the first step, Co is rednced to Co dne to homolytic cleavage of the Co —C bond in cobalamin. Hydrogen atom transfer from methylmalonyl-CoA yields a methylmalonyl-CoA radical that can undergo rearrangement to form a snccinyl-CoA radical. Transfer of an H atom regenerates the coenzyme and yields snccinyl-CoA. 

Propionyl-CoA is first carboxylated to form the d stereoisomer of methylmalonyl-CoA (Pig. 17—11) by propionyl-CoA carboxylase, which contains the cofactor biotin. In this enzymatic reaction, as in the pyruvate carboxylase reaction (see Pig. 16-16), C02 (or its hydrated ion, HCO ) is activated by attachment to biotin before its transfer to the substrate, in this case the propionate moiety. Formation of the carboxybiotin intermediate requires energy, which is provided by the cleavage of ATP to ADP and Pi- The D-methylmalonyl-CoA thus formed is enzymatically epimerized to its l stereoisomer by methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase (Pig. 17-11). The L-methylmal onyl -CoA then undergoes an intramolecular rearrangement to form succinyl-CoA, which can enter the citric acid cycle. This rearrangement is catalyzed by methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, which requires as its coenzyme 5 -deoxyadenosyl-cobalamin, or coenzyme Bi2, which is derived from vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Box 17—2 describes the role of coenzyme B12 in this remarkable exchange reaction. 

A related cleavage by alkaline cyanide can be viewed as a nucleophilic displacement of the deoxy-adenosyl anion by cyanide. The end product is dicyanocobalamin, in which the loosely bound nucleotide containing dimethyl benzimidazole is replaced by a second cyanide ion. Methyl and other simple alkyl cobalamins are stable to alkaline cyanide. A number of other cleavage reactions of alkyl cobalamins are known.392 393... 

Vitamin B12 coenzyme 864. See also Cobalamin dependent reactions, table 871 enzymatic functions 870 - 877 isomerization reactions 872 nonenzymatic cleavage 870 ribonucleotide reductase 871 Vitamin B6 family 721, 738... 

As will be noted later, it is commonly thought that homolytic cleavage of the Co—C bond is an important initial stage in the reactions of cobalamins. Accordingly, there has been much interest in the formation of Co—C bonds, the factors that determine their stability, and the cleavage of these Co—C bonds. 

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]. 

Both Components F and S were required for irreversible cleavage of the C-Co bond of adenosylcobalamin by oxygen upon aerobic incubation with the coenzyme in the absence of substrate. This suggests that activation of the C-Co bond of the coenzyme is dependent on both components. Sephadex G-25 filtration experiments showed that neither adenosylcobalamin nor cyanocobalamin was bound by the individual components, F or S. Both of them were necessary for the cobalamin binding (8). 

The ligand attached to the cobalt atom determines the activity of vitamin B12 in human enzymatic reactions. The two active coenzyme forms are methyl-cobalamin and 5 -adenosylcobalamin, the primary form of vitamin B12 in tissues. Cyanocobalamin, the therapeutic form of vitamin B12 contained in vitamin supplements, is produced by the cleavage of the unstable fink... 

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. " ... 

Strong bases (pKa > 11) also convert alkyl cobaloximes and alkyl cobalamins into -complexes such as 73. This is usually followed by further decomposition to olefins and alkanes. The stability of complexes such as 73 depends very much upon X and the nature of the axial ligand in the cobalt chelate.98-218-227 230 Strong nucleophiles such as RS or CN can cause decomposition of LCo—R as well.98-231 Under the normal conditions of radical polymerization, Markovnikov organocobaloxime should form whenever the hydride, LCoH, appears in the polymerization mixture. If 1,2-vinylidene monomers are being polymerized, then thermally unstable tert-alkyl-cobaloximes are obtained. These species are expected to undergo homolytic Co—C cleavage to yield tertiary radicals. 

An essential property of coenzyme B12 is the weakness of its cobalt-carbon bond, which is readily cleaved to generate a radical. To facilitate the cleavage of this bond, enzymes such as methylmalonyl CoA mutase displace the benzimidazole group from the cobalamin and bind to the cobalt atom... 

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