Cobalt complexes cobalamin

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 ... 

This may be of significance in connetion with the biosynthesis of acetate from carbon dioxide, because the next step, the fixation of carbon monoxide, was demonstrated by B. Krautler. He irradiated methyl cobalamin under Co at 30 atm and obtained the acyl cobalamin as the product. Interestingly, a radical mechanism was iproposed, involving the reaction of methyl radicals with CO to give acyl radicals, which then recombine with the cobalt complex /55/. 

Cobalt complexes with square planar tetradentate ligands, including salen, cor-rin, and porphyrin types, all catalyse the reduction of alkyl bromides and iodides. Most preparative and mechanistic work with these reactions has used cobalamines, including vitamin-B,. A generalised catalytic cycle is depicted in Scheme 4.10 [219]. At potentials around -0.9 V vs. see, the parent ligated Co(lll) compound un-... 

A special mention13 may be made of cobalt complexes the [Co(HDMG)2] (w = 0, 1) has been named cobaloxime by analogy with cobalamin , which is another name of vitamin B,2. 

The catalytic isomerization of meso-epoxides to allylic alcohols has been achieved with chiral cobalt complexes, in particular with cobalamin (vitamin B12) [47, 48]. 

So far, for the highly oxygen-sensitive Co -forms of cobalt-corrinoids (such as Co -cobalamin, (6)), information from X-ray analysis on their three-dimensional structure is not available. However, in these strongly nucleophihc, highly reduced cobalt complexes, the diamagnetic Co -center (a d metal ion, isoelectronic with a Ni"-ion) presumably is ligated by the corrin ligand only, in a tetracoordinated, nearly square-planar fashion. As a consequence, the Co -forms of complete corrins would have to be base-off, that is, the nucleotide function would not be attached to the central cobalt ion. 

Metabolism of cobalamins in mammalian cells. Note the compartmentalization of the synthesis of the two coenzymes adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl) synthesis occurs in mitochondria, whereas that of methylcobalamin (MeCbl) occurs in cytoplasm. TCII, Transcobalamin II OH-Cbl, hydroxocobalamin T, transport protein for TCII-OHCbl complex FH4, MeFH4, tetrahydrofolate and methyltetrahydrofolate, respectively Cbl, a cobalamin in which the ligand occupying the sixth coordination position of the cobalt is not known. The numerical superscripts adjacent to some of the cobalamins indicate the oxidation state of the cobalt ion. Cobalamins in the +1, +2, and +3 oxidation states are also known as Bn, B 2, and Bi2j, respectively. 

Cobalt(II) complexes (such as cob(II)alamin, formerly called B,2,) can be obtained by several methods including controlled potential reduction [14,15], anaerobic photolysis of some organocobalt species [16] (see Section 5.2(b)), partial oxidation of cobalt(I) complexes, in some cases acidification of solutions of cobalt(I) complexes (see below) and chemical reduction. Chemical reduction of cobalt(III) cobalamins to the +2 oxidation state has been achieved with hydrogen over platinum oxide [16], with neutral and acidic solutions of vanadium(III) [17], with chromous acetate at pH 3 [18] and with amalgamated zinc in 0.1 M aqueous perchloric acid [19]. All such cobalt(II) species are probably 5-coordinate, and are low spin d systems containing an unpaired electron and thus displaying an ESR spectrum [20]. 

The relative catalytic activities of a series of cobaloximes and of aquo-cobalamine for homogeneous oxidation of formaldehyde have been qualitatively assessed. Vitamin Biaa is by far the most effective the rate law for the process is complicated. The effect of these catalysts on decomposition of the formic acid produced was also studied. Somewhat simpler cobalt complexes catalyse the oxidation of alkylbenzenes. Thus cobalt(ii) acetate in hydrochloric acid is a good catalyst for the oxidation of p-xylene or p-toluic acid to terephthalic acid. Co(acac>3 catalyses oxidation of toluene, and a cobalt stearate complex catalyses the oxidation of isopropylbenzene. ... 

Use of CD30D or methyl tetrahydrofuran solvents to encourage electron capture, resulted in a complex set of reactions for methyl cobalamine. Initial addition occurred into the w corrin orbital, but on annealing a cobalt centred radical was obtained, the e.s.r. spectrum of which was characteristic of an electron in a d z.y orbital (involving the corrin ring) rather than the expected d2z orbital. However, the final product was the normal Co species formed by loss of methyl. Formally, this requires loss of CH3 , but this step seems highly unlikely. Some form of assisted loss, such as protonation, seems probable. 

The NO/NO+ and NO/NO- self-exchange rates are quite slow (42). Therefore, the kinetics of nitric oxide electron transfer reactions are strongly affected by transition metal complexes, particularly by those that are labile and redox active which can serve to promote these reactions. Although iron is the most important metal target for nitric oxide in mammalian biology, other metal centers might also react with NO. For example, both cobalt (in the form of cobalamin) (43,44) and copper (in the form of different types of copper proteins) (45) have been identified as potential NO targets. In addition, a substantial fraction of the bacterial nitrite reductases (which catalyze reduction of NO2 to NO) are copper enzymes (46). The interactions of NO with such metal centers continue to be rich for further exploration. 

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