Vitamin B12 in the spotlight again

Abstract

The ability of cobalamin to coordinate different upper axial ligands gives rise to a diversity of reactivity. Traditionally, adenosylcobalamin is associated with radical-based rearrangements, and methylcobalamin with methyl cation transfers. Recently, however, a new role for adenosylcobalamin has been discovered as a light sensor, and a methylcobalamin-dependent enzyme has been identified that is suggested to transfer a methyl anion. Additionally, recent studies have provided a wealth of new information about a third class of cobalamin-dependent enzymes that do not appear to use an upper ligand. They function in reductive dehalogenations and epoxide reduction reactions. Finally, mechanistic details are beginning to emerge about the cobalamin-dependent S-adenosylmethionine radical enzyme superfamily for which the role of cobalamin has been largely enigmatic.