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New biosynthetic route to catechol discovered

A new biosynthetic pathway to catechol has been discovered in Escherichia coli by Karen M. Draths and John W. Frost of the department of chemistry at Purdue University [ J. Am. Chem. Soc , 113, 9361 (1991)]. The researchers have found a previously unknown series of enzymes in E. coli that catalyze the transformation of a glucose metabolite into catechol, which is then degraded to s-ketoadipate and further metabolized in the organism's citric acid cycle. Catechol is an important building block used to make pharmaceuticals (such as epinephrine and L-dopa), flavors and fragrances (such as vanillin), and carbamate pesticides. Several other microbes besides E. coli are also known to produce catechol. In the industrial process currently used to make catechol, phenol is oxidized with hydrogen peroxide over a transition-metal catalyst. This reaction produces a mixture of hydroquinone and catechol, which are then separated. It's a classic example of a traditional chemical process. "As a biocatalytic route ...