The name vitamin B (or B for short) is used in two different ways. In a broader sense it refers to a group of cobalt-containing compounds known as cobalamins - cyanocobalamin (an artefact formed as a result of the use of cyanide in the purification procedures), hydroxocobalamin and the two coenzyme forms of B, methylcobalamin (MeB) and 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin (adenosylcobalamin - AdoB). In a more specific way, the term B is used to refer to only one of these forms, cyanocobalamin, which is the principal B form used for foods and in nutritional supplements.
Pseudo-B refers to B-like substances which are found in certain organisms, such as Spirulina spp. (blue-green algae, cyanobacteria). However, these substances do not have B biological activity for humans.
Structure
B is the most chemically complex of all the vitamins. B's structure is based on a corrinring, which, although similar to the porphyrin ring found in heme, chlorophyll, and cytochrome, has two of the pyrrole rings directly bonded. The central metal ion is Co (cobalt). Four of the six coordinations are provided by the corrin ring nitrogens, and a fifth by a dimethylbenzimidazole group. The sixth coordination partner varies, being a cyano group (-CN), a hydroxyl group (-OH), a methyl group (-CH3) or a 5'-deoxyadenosyl group (here the C5' atom of the deoxyribose forms the covalent bond with Co), respectively, to yield the four B forms mentioned above. The covalent C-Co bond is the only carbon-metal bond known in biology.
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