Microbial Hydroxylation of Bufalin by Cunninghamella blakesleana and Mucor spinosus
摘要:
The microbial transformation of a cytotoxic bufadienolide, bufalin (1), was carried out using two strains of filamentous fungi. Cunninghamella blakesleana catalyzed the specific 12 alpha-hydroxylation of bufalin and produced 12 alpha-hydroxybufalin (2) and 7 beta,12 alpha-dihydroxybufalin (3) as the major metabolites, together with 7 beta-hydroxybufalin (4) and 12 beta-hydroxybufalin (5) in low yields. Two minor products were isolated from the culture broth of Mucor spinosus and were identified as 7 beta,15 alpha-dihydroxybufalin (6) and 5 beta,7 beta-dihydroxybufalin (7), respectively. Metabolites 2, 3, 6, and 7 are new compounds, and their structures were fully characterized by NMR and MS spectroscopy.