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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Biosynthesis of a Flavonol from a Flavanone by Establishing a One-pot Bienzymatic Cascade
Published on: August 14, 2019
Biotransformation of polymethoxylated flavonoids: access to their 4'-O-demethylated metabolites
Didier Buisson1, Jérôme Quintin, Guy Lewin
1Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques, UMR 8601 CNRS, 45 Rue des Sts Pères, 75006 Paris, France. didier.buisson@univ-paris5.fr
Abstract:
Regioselective O-demethylation of the flavones tangeretin (1) and 3-hydroxytangeretin (6) into their 4'-O-demethylated metabolites was performed by using an Aspergillus niger strain. This method serves as a straightforward alternative to multistep synthesis or semisynthesis. The microbial approach is complementary to the chemical procedure, which furnishes a 5-O-demethylated product. P450 inhibitors prevented the biotransformation of tangeretin (1). These results suggest that a P450 oxidation system might be involved in this O-demethylation and demonstrate a consequent similarity in both microbial and mammalian metabolism of polymethoxylated flavones.
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