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. 1982 Jul;44(1):153–158. doi: 10.1128/aem.44.1.153-158.1982

Structure-Activity Relationships in Microbial Transformation of Phenols

D F Paris 1, N L Wolfe 1, W C Steen 1
PMCID: PMC241983  PMID: 16346051

Abstract

The second-order rate constants for the microbial transformation of a series of phenols were correlated with the physicochemical properties of the phenols. The compounds studied were phenol, p-methylphenol, p-chlorophenol, p-bromophenol, p-cyanophenol, p-nitrophenol, p-acetylphenol, and p-methoxyphenol. Phenol-grown cells of Pseudomonas putida U transformed these compounds. Microbial transformation rate constants ranged from (1.5 ± 0.99) × 10−14 liter · organism−1 · h−1 for p-cyanophenol to (7.0 ± 1.3) × 10−12 liter · organism−1 · h−1 for phenol. Linear regression analyses of rate constants and electronic, steric, and hydrophobic parameters showed that van der Waal's radii gave the best coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.956). Products identified by thin-layer chromatography and liquid chromatography indicated that the phenols were microbially oxidized to the corresponding catechols.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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