Cobalamin cofactors play critical roles in radical-catalyzed rearrangements
and in methyl transfers. This Account focuses on the role of methylcobalam
in and its structural homologues, the methylcorrinoids, as intermediaries i
n methyl transfer reactions, and particularly on the reaction catalyzed by
cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. In these methyl transfer reactions
, the cobalt(I) form of the cofactor serves as the methyl acceptor. Biologi
cal methyl donors to cobalamin include N5-methyltetrahydrofolate, other met
hylamines, methanol, aromatic methyl ethers, acetate, and dimethyl sulfide.
The challenge for chemists is to determine the enzymatic mechanisms for ac
tivation of these unreactive methyl donors and to mimic these amazing biolo
gical reactions.