Biosynthesis and n.m.r. studies of deuterated poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) produced by Alcaligenes eutrophus H16

Alcaligenes eutrophus H16 was grown on mixtures of 1H- and 2H-acetate as carbon sources. The accumulation of deuterated poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB)) was observed. The deuterium distributions in the isolated P(3HB)s were determined from 1H and 2H-n.m.r. spectra and confirmed by 13C-n.m.r. spectra. Although one would expect to synthesize P([2,2,4,4,4-2H5]3HB) when the cells were grown on 2H-acetate as the sole carbon source, the methyl, methylene and methine groups of the P(3HB) contained both deuterium and proton. This observation indicates some substitution from 2H to 1H during the P(3HB) synthesis. The 2H content in the methyl groups was larger than that in the methylene groups, which suggests a kinetic isotope effect in the P(3HB) synthesizing process. The deuterium distributions in the two magnetically non-equivalent methylene protons were determined to be different, which indicates stereoselectivity at the C2 site.