REARRANGED CARYOPHYLLENES BY BIOTRANSFORMATION WITH CHAETOMIUM COCHLIODES

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0031-9422(90)80013-7

Biotransformation of caryophyllene by Chaetomium cochliodes DSM 1909 (=ATCC 10195) leads to 4,5-epoxy-caryophyllene-7,12-diol as the main product.The hydroxylation of the geminal methyl groups is not very stereospecific, but as with Diploida gossypina the main product possesses the 11R-configuration.Side-reactions are ring contraction or formation of clovanes, probably via epoxide rearrangements.The use of mono- or diepoxy-caryophyllene as the substrate does not increase the yields significantly.Instead, diepoxy-caryophyllene gave a punctatin derivative.The same molecular framework, but with a different configuration, was observed among the fermentation products from Diplodia gossypina, which supports the assumption that a caryophyllane is the precursor of this class of antibiotics.