Complexing of Sugars and Polyhydroxy Alcohols with Molybdenum (VI)

Molybdenum is very important in the life processes of both plants and animals. It acts as a catalyst in promoting and controlling many biological reactions in living cells, but exactly what it does and how it functions are not well understood. In the past because of the obvious complexity of the reactions concerned and the extremely minute quantities of molybdenum involved, its presence was long undetected. Lately, molybdenum has drawn special attention on account of its effects on metabolic processes, particularly of plants. In this regard, molybdenum has been shown to be present in four enzymes: nitrate reductase (JJ), xanthine oxidase (39), aldehyde oxidase (28), and hydrogenase (41)