An electrochemical investigation has been carried out by polarography and cyclic voltammetry to evaluate the suitability of a new coenzyme B 12 model built upon the quadridentate tetraza equatorial chelate, 3,8-dimethyl-5,6-benzo-4,7-diazadeca-3, 7-diene-2,9-dione dioxime [(DOH) 2bzo] as a non-biological mimic of coenzyme B 12 and to establish a quantitative electrochemical comparison with the cobaloxime and Costa-type models. The (non-alkyl) cobalt(III) complexes of (DOH) 2bzo exhibit two polarographic reduction waves corresponding to the reductions, Co(III)→Co(II) and Co(II)→ Co(I). The alkylcobalt(III) complexes exhibit adsorption/desorption phenomena, and the E 1/2 values have been obtained under conditions where the absorption/desorption processes and RCo decomposition have been suppressed by the externally added base. The cyclic voltammograms of both alkyl and (non-alkyl)cobalt(III) complexes consist of two cathodic waves corresponding to the reductions, Co(III)→Co(II) and Co(II)→Co(I) and two anodic waves corresponding to the oxidations, Co(I)→Co(II) and Co(Il)→Co(III). The Δ E p is large for the Co(III)/Co(II) redox couple indicating irreversible electron transfer. For the Co(II)/Co(I) couple, Δ E p is ∼ 60 mV indicating reversible one electron transfer, but the i pc/ i pa is ∼ 0.5 indicating irreversibility. The irreversibility of the Co(III)/Co(II) and Co(II)/Co(I) redox couples can be attributed to the breaking of the Co-ligand bond in the axial sites during the reduction processes and the generation of the five-coordinate cobalt(II) complex, [RCo II(DODOHbzo)] during the reduction of the organocobalt(III) complexes and the generation of the four-coordinate cobalt(I) complex, [Co I(DODOHbzo)] during the reduction of the five-coordinate cobalt(II) complex are envisioned. The i pa/ i pc ratio of 0.5 for the Co(II)/Co(I) redox couple indicates a 50% Co(I) yield probably due to the chemical reaction undergone by 50% of the electrogenerated Co(I). This suggests the involvement of a coupled chemical reaction such as an ECE mechanism. The near constancy of the E pc values for the Co(II)/Co(I) couple of all the complexes indicates that both the axial ligands are lost during the electrolytic conversion of Co(II) to Co(I). The E 1/2 values for both redox couples are more negative for the alkyl complexes than that of the (non-alkyl) complexes indicating the high basicity of the coordinated alkyl groups. The externally added base has a pronounced effect of increasing the rate of electron transfer and suppressing the RCo decomposition. The organocobalt(III) complexes undergo a quasireversible one electron oxidation without breaking either of the Co-ligand bonds in the axial sites. The E 1/2 value of the Co(IV)/Co(III) redox couple has a marked dependence on the nature of the organic ligand and is very sensitive even to the slight modifications of the Lewis base trans to the organic ligand. The results are discussed in the light of electrochemical studies of other models. of −0.8 which are very close to the Co(III)/Co(II) E 1/2 values of −1.47 V for methyl(solvent)cobinamide and the Co(II)/Co(I) E 1/2 value of −0.74 V for base off Co(II)cobalamin indicating the limitations of oxidation state formalism in deciding a suitable B 12 model. The study of Murakami. [15b] on the cobalt complexes of 1,19-dimethyl-AD-didehydrocorrin (BDHC) and its tetrahydro analogue (TDHC) indicates that the former is a closer electrochemical mimic of vitamin B 12, the E 1/2 being 0.47 V for the Co(III)/CO(II) couple and −0.71 V for the Co(II)/Co(I) couple. Their study also indicates a wide variation in the Co(III)/Co(II) E 1/2 values on the formal charge of the equatorial ligand. The Co(III)/Co(II) E 1/2 values of the cobalt (III) complexes of a family of closely related quadridentate tetraaza equatorial macrocyclic ligands such as (TDHC), aetioporphyrin and octaalkylcorrole, which carry 1−, 2− and 3− charges respectively, span over more than 1 V from +0.97 V for TDHC through +0.3 V for aetioporphyrin to −0.26 V for corrole.