Abstract
Among several type cultures that assimilated 1-hexadecene, Corynebacterium equi IFO 3730 was found to best accumulate 1, 2-epoxyhexadecane. The purified product exhibited [α]25D+9.64 (c=3.71, n-hexane) and was confirmed to have the (R) absolute configuration by correlating to known analogous compounds. The optical purity was determined to be 100% by PMR measurement of 1-methoxy-2-hexadecanol which was derived stereospecifically from the epoxide. The highest yield (41% based on consumed 1-hexadecene) was achieved when 2.0 of octane and 0.1% of Tween 80 were added to the medium containing 0.5% of the olefin. C. equi also assimilated terminal olefins other than 1-hexadecene and produced the corresponding epoxides from substrates which have carbon chains longer than fourteen.
