TOBACCO CHEMISTRY .76. BIOTRANSFORMATIONS OF TOBACCO ISOPRENOIDS USING PLANT-CELL CULTURES OF TRIPTERYGIUM-WILFORDII

A detailed study involving the biotransformation of two abundant tobac co constituents, (1S,2E,4S,6R,7E11E)-2,7,11-cembratriene-4,6-diol (1) and the 4R isomer (2), by incubation with plant cell cultures of Tript erygium wilfordii, an important Chinese herbal plant, is presented. Th e experiments involve incubation of 1 and 2 with growing as well as re suspended cells of T. wilfordii for varying time periods and utilizing cells of different ages. Major products are the known epoxides result ing from enzymatic epoxidation at the 11,12 double bond, while enzymat ic hydroxylation at C-10, C-12 and C-13 is less predominant and afford s several triols, one of which so far has not been reported present in Nicotiana species.