Microbial Oxidation of sec-Alcohols to Ketones

Abstract

Corynebacterium equi IFO 3730, which had previously been demonstrated to be capable of assimilating 1-hexadecene, also showed good growth on 1-hexadecen-11-ol (1a). The corresponding ketone, 1-hexadecen-11-one (2a) was isolated as the product from the broth. This microorganism-mediated oxidation has been revealed to have a wide applicability, and a variety of sec-alcohols were oxidized to the corresponding ketones in good yields on incubation with the bacterium grown on 1-hexadecene as a sole source of carbon.