Towards the synthesis of light-stable coenzyme B12 analogs

The organometallic complex coenzyme B12 (adenosyl cobalamin, AdoCbl) is not only an essential coenzyme in many biochemical reactions of most if not all living organisms but has lately been shown to play a crucial role in the regulation of B12 related genes. As a consequence, coenzyme B12 has been a target of intense research. However, the investigations of AdoCbl have often been hampered due to its high light-sensitivity leading to decomposition of the compound within a few seconds. Here, we describe a strategy to synthesize more light-stable coenzyme B12 analogs, which show similar steric properties as adenosyl cobalamin. The synthesis, structural characterization as well as the pH dependent “base-on/base-off” behavior of cyanide bridged vitamin B12 conjugates with either a cis-[(NH3)2Pt]2+ or an [enPt]2+ moiety, leading to cis-[(NH3)2PtCl-vitB12]+ (1) and [enPtCl-vitB12]+ (2) are reported. The subsequent reaction of cis-[(NH3)2PtCl-vitB12]+ with the model nucleobase 9-methyladenine leads to the corresponding adduct, where the adenine moiety is coordinated to the Pt2+ center either via N1 or N7. This compound is light-stable and harbors the adenine moiety in the same distance of 5 Å above the corrin plane as present in the highly light-sensitive adenosyl cobalamin.