Microbial hydroxylation of steroids (progesterone with Rhizopus)
Hidroxilación microbiana de esteroides (progesterona con Rhizopus)
- Date
- 1952 · confidence high
- Place
- Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
- Credited to
- Durey Peterson and Herbert Murray (Upjohn)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Upjohn chemists found that the mould Rhizopus arrhizus introduces the 11α-hydroxyl group into progesterone in a single step, one that took about ten chemical reactions. The conversion cut the price of cortisone and opened biotransformation as an industrial method.
The results were published in 1952 (J. Am. Chem. Soc.). Schering obtained prednisone in 1955 by microbial Δ1-dehydrogenation.
What it led to
- cheap cortisone and corticosteroids from plant diosgenin
- biotransformation industry (steroids, vitamins, semi-synthetic antibiotics)
- step towards applied enzymology and biocatalysis