Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012 Oxygenative and prototropic molecular rearrangements, observed during microbio­logical transformations of terpenes are discussed. The former which have been noticed during the metabolism of mono - and sesquiterpenes by Aspergillus niger NC1M 612, have been studied with the aid of cyclohexene, 1-methylcyclohexene, 4-methyleyclohexene and tetralin as model compounds. of Prototropic rearrangements have been observed

more »

... ring metabolism of terpenes by Pseudomonas species isolated by enrichment culture techniques. They are pinene to 1-p-menthene conversion, involving rupture of a cyclobutane ring in the bicyclic system, rearrangement of camphene to isoborneol and conversion of an acyclic terpene to a monocyclic one. These studies have revealed that the presence of a single extra enzyme often enables the microorganism to thrive on different substrates