Crystallographic investigations of biotin and carboxybiotin derivatives

The structures of a family of biotin and carboxybiotin derivatives have provided information on the mechanism of biotin action. The ureido moiety of the uncarboxylated cofactor is polarized and able to interact with ions and polar molecules; intermolecular interactions in the biotin derivatives suggest biochemical mechanisms resulting in nucleophilic activation to the enol tautomer. N1' carboxylation of biotin is important not only as a chemical reaction to generate the carboxyl-transferring species, carboxybiotin, but also in acting as a switch to depolarize the ureido carbonyl oxygen, and thereby facilitating interactions with non-polar molecules. The structure of an N1' methoxycarbonyl biotin derivative reveals such an interaction between the carbonyl oxygen, O2', and a neighboring methyl group. A computer-generated space-filing model of the van der Waals contacts involved in this interaction reveals that the methyl group is locked with respect to rotation and thus suggests a structural basis for the stereospecificity observed in the carboxyl-transferring half-reaction. The flexibility of the valeryl side chains in this family of structures provides translocation models in line with magnetic resonance data which indicate that the translocation events involve motions of, at most, 7 A. Our models demonstrate that such motions may be accomplished by simple, observed conformational changes in bonds of the valeryl side chain which locally adjoin the bicyclic ring system. High resolution, low temperature diffraction data will allow visualization of the bonding and lone pair electrons in biotin. These studies will serve to extend and fine-tune our description of the electronic structure of biotin which is currently based on accurate measurements of bond distances and angles.