Adenosylcobinamide methyl phosphate as a pseudocoenzyme for diol dehydrase

The synthesis of adenosylcobinamide methyl phosphate, an analog of adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl), was reported. It did not show detectable coenzymic activity but bound to apoenzyme with relatively high affinity. It was concluded that the phosphate group of the nucleotide loop of AdoCbl is essential for tight binding to apoenzyme and therefore for subsequent activation of the Co-C bond and catalysis.