The preparation of S-adenosylmethionine.

Although the enzymatic synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine was accomplished several years ago (l), there have, as yet, been few reports of experiments with this compound. The main reason for the paucity of data appears to be the difficulty of obtaining S-adenosylmethionine in adequate quantities at a reasonable expenditure of time and starting material. Cantoni (2) has prepared S-adenosylmethionine by the reaction of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) with r,-methionine in the presence of purified liver enzyme, according to a reaction sequence which, in summary, may be written as follows: