The crystal structure of N1'-methoxycarbonylbiotin methyl ester, a model for M'-carboxybiotin, has been determined. The In the first half-reaction, enzyme-bound biotin is carboxylated at Ni', generating N1'-carboxybiotin (II). In the second halfreaction, C02 is transferred, as a carboxyl group, from carboxybiotin to another molecule. Biotin enzymes are, in general, high molecular weight, multisubunit structures; the half-reactions generally occur at separate active sites which are located on different subunits of the enzymes.Here, we report the molecular structure of N1'-methoxycarbonylbiotin methyl ester (III), which is a model for Ni'-carboxybiotin (II). Structural results were obtained by using the technique of single-crystal x-ray diffraction. Previous crystallographic studies have established the molecular structures of free biotin (I) (2), dethiobiotin (3), azabiotin (4), oxybiotin, selenobiotin, biotin methyl ester, biotin sulfone, and biotin-d-sulfoxide, and carbobiotin (5). Differences between the molecular geometries and therefore the electronic configurations of the ureido moieties of I and III are of great interest because the ureido ring is the catalytically active portion of the biotin molecule. The previous studies have stressed the notion that, in free biotin and its'derivatives, the polarized forms of the biotin resomers (those with 'formal charge separation)