Abstract
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was biotransformed by various species of microorganisms to give four metabolites ; lysergic acid ethylamide (LAE), and norlysergic acid diethylamide (norLSD) are already known, but lysergic acid ethyl-2-hydroxyethylamide (LEO) and lysergic acid ethylvinylamide (LEV) have not been reported previously. Characteristic features of Streptomyces roseochromogenes and S. lavendulae were noted in biotransformation experiments with LSD and isoLSD. The latter has an enzyme system for the demethylation of LSD and isoLSD, but the former does not. Using the technique of reincubation of metabolites, the metabolic pathway from LSD to LEV or LEO in S. roseochromogenes was studied, and the pathway of biotransformation from LEV to LEO was established.
