Historical story on natural medicinal chemistry: Vitamin B12 / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Vitamin B12, a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in maintaining normal function of the human body, was discovered in the late 1940s. The unique structure with a corrin-ligand of vitamin B12 was elucidated by X-ray crystallography, while its total synthesis was accomplished several years later. In this paper, the history of structural determination as well as the skeleton construction strategies of the total synthesis of vitamin B12 has been described.