Projekt 4. - Institut for Matematik og Datalogi - Syddansk Universitet

N a t u r v i d e n s k a b e l i g t P r o j e k t / F a r m a c e u t : V a l g f r i t P r o j e k t
Projekt 65. Vitamins and Minerals
Vejleder: Christine McKenzie, chk@ifk.sdu.dk
Institut: Institut for Fysik og Kemi (IFK)
Praktisk del: Institut
Gruppeplacering: Biblioteket
Gruppestørrelse: Mindst 3 og max 5 deltagere. Én gruppe kan arbejde med projektet
Kommentarer: Projektet kan tages af studerende på Kemi, Nanobioscience, Farmaci og studerende
på scienceåret
Keywords: syntetisk Kemi, spektroskopi, nutrition, lægemidler, vitamin B 12
Abstract
Vitamins and minerals are essential dietary components since we are unable to biosynthesize
them in our bodies. Deficiency or overexposure can lead to a myriad of diseases and death. Vitamin
B 12 (cyanocobalamine) is an example of an essential vitamin and we need about 1 g per
day. In nature it is produced by microorganisms, and we consume it in eggs, dairy products, meat
and fish. Thus vegans need to be particularly aware of deficiency symptoms. Coenzyme B 12 has
a central role in the biosynthesis of hemoglobin and the
essential amino acid, methionine. Supplements are given
to sufferers of pernicious anemia by injection. Vitamin
B 12 , depicted on the left, contains the first row transition
element cobalt which is trapped inside a “macrocyclic”
ring called a corrin (blue). In situ it is a co-factor used
by enzymes usually linked to them via a histidineN-Co
bond. One ligand on the cobalt atom (R) is the carbon
atom of various molecules and substrates. Vitamin B 12 is
an example of an “organometallic” compound – it contains
a metal-carbon bond. This is an important class of
compounds in biological and industrial catalysis. Three
Nobel prizes in chemistry, and one in medicine, have
been awarded for Vitamin B 12 research and many more
in organometallic chemistry.
The original “total synthesis” of Vitamin B 12 took over a decade and involved more than 90 separate
reactions performed by over 100 people. You don‟t the time for that! Rather you will synthesize
and characterize a simpler analogue and carry out a literature search on the biochemistry
of co-enzyme and Vitamin B 12 .
Minikurser
Obligatorisk: Projektarbejde (Microsoft, Nat)
Anbefalede: Ingen
Litteraturliste over metode artikler, som udleveres til de studerende
Synthesis instructions will be provided.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12
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