Antivitamins B12-Some Inaugural Milestones

The recently delineated structure- and reactivity-based concept of antivitamins B-12 has begun to bear fruit by the generation, and study, of a range of such B-12-dummies, either vitamin B-12-derived, or transition metal analogues that also represent potential antivitamins B-12 or specific B-12-antimetabolites. As reviewed here, this has opened up new research avenues in organometallic B-12-chemistry and bioinorganic coordination chemistry. Exploratory studies with antivitamins B-12 have, furthermore, revealed some of their potential, as pharmacologically interesting compounds, for inducing B-12-deficiency in a range of organisms, from hospital resistant bacteria to laboratory mice. The derived capacity of antivitamins B-12 to induce functional B-12-deficiency in mammalian cells and organs also suggest their valuable potential as growth inhibitors of cancerous human and animal cells.