Cobalamins Cobalt-carbon bonds

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... 

R. B. Silverman and D. Dolphin (1973), A direct method for cobalt-carbon bond formation in cobalt(III)-containing cobalamins and cobaloximes. Further support for cobalt (III) r-complexes in coenzyme B12 dependent rearrangements. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 95, 1686-1688. 

Photolysis of [Co(CH2R)(L)(Hdmg)2] under oxygen proceeds by insertion of dioxygen into the cobalt carbon bond to provide a solution species for which nmr spectroscopic data is rq)orted. Reduction of this intermediate produces primary alcohols whereas thermolysis produces aldehydes and alcohols. Treatment of [Co oep)] with simple aldehydes and rm-butylhydroperoxide in the presence of sodium borohydride produces cobalt(III) acyls in 65-98% yields. In the absence of the borohydride the yield is reduced. The reaction is proposed to proceed by acyl radical trapping by the Co(n) centre. Methyl transfer in a protein free model of vitamin B12 dependent methyl transf enzymes has been studied. These systems convert homocysteine to methionine in nature. Trimethyl-phenylammonium icm reacts with the CoG) centre in cobalamin producing methylcobalamin. ... 

We shall report here the synthesis of cobalt-carbon bond involved in coenzyme B12 and cobalamine, cobaloxime, and Schiff base analog models, together with some aspects of their reactivity. 

Since 1993, extensive investigations for determining the strength of the cobalt-carbon bond and analyzing the factors that will influence it have been carried out on both biologically active cobalamin and organocobalt model compounds. Photoacoustic calorimetry has been used to determine Co-C bond dissociation. ... 

Homolysis of the cobalt-carbon bond in naturally occurring cobalamines and in model compounds is induced by photolysis and thermolysis, and it is anticipated that the products of these reactions are identical to those found during the enzymatic processes in which cobalamines are present. Accordingly, new informations on the structure and reactions in which Co(ii) species are involved have been achieved by studying photolysis and thermolysis of B12... 

The structures of the biologically active forms of B12 were solved relatively recently (1961) (78) and were shown to contain a cobalt atom surrounded by a corrin ring as shown in Fig. 16 (80). The crystal structure also showed a cobalt-carbon a bond which was quite surprising since the few compounds with cobalt-carbon a- bonds known at that time were quite unstable (79). The corrin ring is similar to the porphyrin ring, but its greater saturation imports less rigidity than the porphyrin. Corrinoids with the axial 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole substituent are called cobalamins. Vitamin B12 with Co(III) and CN in the top axial position is... 

In these compounds the cobalt atom is enclosed in a highly conjugated cobalamin structure and linked to an alkyl group via a metal-carbon bond. The B12 coenzymes are diamagnetic and can be regarded as complexes of cobalt(III) with a carbanion as a ligand (2). As this review will be limited to cases of direct metal-protein interactions the corrinoids will not be discussed further. 

The presence of a carbon in the core of the ring indicates that these macrocycles will form organometallic interactions upon metal binding. In biological systems, naturally occurring organometallic complexes are rare. The cobalamin cofactor is one of the more important examples, which possesses an axial metal-carbon bond in a cobalt porphyrinoid macrocycle (77). Another common example is seen in carbon-monoxide deactivated ferrous heme (22) ... 

The cobalt-carbon (Co-Q bond in the chemical stracture of cobalamins offers them unique chemical properties. 

In cobalamin, vitamin Bu, one of the six ligands forming an octahedral structure around a cobalt atom is an organic molecule attached through a carbon-cobalt bond (red). The bond is weak and easily broken. 

The structure of cobalamin is more complex than that of folic acid (Figure 15.2 and 15.3). At its heart is a porphyrin ring containing the metal ion cobalt at its centre. In catalytic reactions the cobalt ion forms a bond with the one-carbon group, which is then transferred from one compound to another. Vitamin B12 is the prosthetic group of only two enzymes, methylmalonyl-CoAmutase and methionine synthase. The latter enzyme is particularly important, as it is essential for the synthesis of nucleotides which indicates the importance of vitamin B12 in maintenance of good health. 

Cobalamin catalysed electrochemical reduction of the 2-chloroethanol ester 68 at negative potentials, without photochemical assistance, leads to a 1,2-elimination process (see p. 115) [228]. This contrasts with the lack of 1,2-elimination during reaction of 66 and 67, Thus in the purely electrochemical carbon-cobalt bond... 

---