The acid-catalyzed decompostion of phenacylcobalamin: evidence for the formation of an enol-Co(III) pi-complex intermediate.

Abstract

Phenacylcobalamin has been synthesized and characterized by thin-layer chromatography and uv-visible spectroscopy, as well as identification of the cobalt-containing and organic products of its cleavage in acid and base and by aerobic photolysis. The major organic product from all three cleavage reactions is acetophenone and the cobalt-containing product is aquacobalamin (or hydroxocobalamin, its conjugate base). In aqueous acidic solution (pH 0 to 7.3, ionic strength 1.0 M, and 25.0 degrees C), the kinetics of the formation of aquacobalamin are biphasic representing the linear sum of two exponential terms. The pH dependence of the first-order rate constant of both phases shows a first-order dependence on proton concentration but with an inflection point ot pH 3.55 for the faster phase and at pH 4.03 for the slower phase. This behavior is interpreted in terms of the specific acid catalyzed formation of an intermediate from both "base on" and "base off" phenacylcobalamin with different second-order rate constants for each form, followed by an intermediate decompotion step with a similar formal mechanism. The nature of the intermediate is discussed and it is concluded to be a pi-complex between cob(III)alamin and the enol of acetophenone.