Enzymatic Formation of Guaiacylglycerol 8-O-4'-(Coniferyl Alcohol) Ether from Coniferyl Alcohol with Enzyme Preparations of Eucommia ulmoides

Lignans and neolignans are optically active plant secondary metabolites. Research on biosynthesis of lignans has already been advanced especially for the formation of (+) pinoresinol but information on the biosynthesis of 8-O-4'- neolignans is still limited. Moreover, the chemical structure(position of substituents on aromatic rings) and stereochemistry of 8-O-4' neolignans is not clear. Katayama and Kado discovered that incubation of cell-free extracts from E. ulmoides with coniferyl alcohol in the presence of hydrogen peroxide gave (+)-erythro- and (-)-threo- guaiacylglycerol 8-O-4'-(coniferyl alcohol) ether (GGCE)(diastereomeric ratio, 3:2) which is the first report on enzymatic formation of optically active -8-O-4' neolignans from an achiral monolignol. In this aspect, enzymatic formation of guaiacyl 8-O-4' neolignan is noteworthy to clarify its stereochemistry from incubation of coniferyl alcohol with enzyme prepared from Eucommia ulmoides. In this experiment, soluble and insoluble enzymes prepared from E. ulmoides were incubated with 30 mM coniferyl alcohol(CA) for 60 min. The enzyme catalyzed GGCE, dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol(DHCA), and pinoresinol identified by reversed phase HPLC. Consequently, diastereomeric compositions of GGCE were determined as erythro and threo isomer. Enantiomeric composition was determined by the chiral column HPLC. Both enzyme preparations enantioselectively formed (-)-erythro, (+)-erythro and (+)-threo, (-)-threo-GGCEs respectively.