Antivitamins B 12 -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.
(© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)