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Vitamin B12 In Inorganic Chemistry

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Crystal Tran
Dr. Eichhorn
Chemistry 514
21 November 2017
Vitamin B12 in Inorganic Chemistry
Vitamin B12, also known as cyanocobalamin or cobalamin is an important water-soluble organic compound that aids in many biological functions that are essential for life (Jamil 2015). Vitamin B12 is one out of eight vitamins, that was discovered by Georg Richard Minot, William Parry Murphy, and George Whipple in the nineteenth century due to their investigation of the disease pernicious anemia (Vitamin B12 www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/vitb12/b12.htm). Although they weren't the first to discover Vitamin B12, Baron Todd and Karl Folkers isolated the compound in 1948 (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Vitamin B12 mainly supports in the development of red blood cell formation in humans and mammals which can later develop a deficiency in older adults due to poor diet ("Vitamin B-12" 2017). There are many solutions to Vitamin B12 deficiency since it has become a common illness in the United States.
Vitamin B12 structurally contains a metallic ion Cobalt, with a chemical structure shown in Figure 1.1 with the empirical formula of C61-64H84-90N14O13-14PCo (C63H88CoN14O14P) (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Cobalt plays a special role in Vitamin B12 since it aids in the metabolism in our bodies. Vitamin B12 has two active coenzyme forms which are methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin that aids with folic acid (folate) in making DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the

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