Fungal biotransformation of cedramber

Abstract

Cedramber (cedrol methyl ether) (1) is a fragrance compound used in cosmetics such as soap, detergents, creams, lotions and perfumes. New cedrol derivatives are of interest in this context. Here we report the first biotransformation reaction of cedramber by Aspergillus niger ATCC 10549. The conversion afforded two known cedrol derivatives namely, 12 beta-hydroxy cedrol (2), and 3 beta-hydroxy cedrol (3), in 11.9, and 15.5% yields, respectively. The new metabolite chemical structures were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, GC/MS and NMR analyses.