Cyanocobalamin is the most common and widely produced form of the chemical compounds that have vitamin B₁₂ activity. Vitamin B₁₂ is the "generic descriptor" name for any of such vitamers of vitamin B₁₂. Because the body can convert cyanocobalamin to any one of the active vitamin B₁₂ compounds, by definition this makes cyanocobalamin itself a form (or vitamer) of B₁₂, albeit a largely artificial one.