Long-range H-1-N-15 heteronuclear shift correlation at natural abundance: a tool to study benzothiazole biodegradation by two Rhodococcus strains

The biodegradation of benzothiazole and 2-hydroxybenzothiazole by two strai ns of Rhodococcus was monitored by reversed phase high-pressure liquid chro matography and by H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Both xenobiotics we re biotransformed into a hydroxylated derivative of 2-hydroxybenzothiazole by these two strains. The chemical structure of this metabolite was determi ned by a new NMR methodology: long-range H-1-N-15 heteronuclear shift corre lation without any previous N-15 enrichment of the compound. This powerful NMR tool allowed us to assign the metabolite structure to 2,6-dihydroxybenz othiazole.