Not too surprisingly, CoQ biochemically functions much like vitamin E in that it participates in antioxidant and free radical reactions, However, CoQ has a special biochemical role of major importance. CoQ is involved in the production of energy in cells. Of special importance is CoQ's role in producing energy in heart calls. Coenzymes should not be confused with enzymes. Coenzymes are relatively small molecules compared to enzymes, and thus, are not inactivated by stomach acids and are readily absorbed intact and totally functional.
Vitamins often form the major part of coenzymes in the body.
CoQ is assimilated as readily as vitamin E and K, as one would expect by their chemical structures. Many enzymes work only in the presence of a smaller organic molecule called a coenzyme. Enzymes are catalysts that speed reactions that might take place very slowly or not take place at all, if it were not for the presence of the coenzymes. This compound is so ubiquitous that it was first named ubiquinone. However, we cannnot manufacture CoQ from simple nutrients or CoQ's building blocks.