Studies on enzymic cis-trans isomerization of nitrothiophene and nitrobenzene derivatives

The enzymic cis-trans isomerization of nitrothiophene and nitrobenzene derivatives was comparatively investigated by using the geometrical isomers of 3-(5-nitro-2-thienyl)-2-(2-furyl)acrylamide and 3-(4-nitrophenyl)-2-(2-furyl)-acrylamide. As a result, the nitrothiophene derivative was mainly isomerized from the cis to the trans form by milk xanthine oxidase or rat liver microsomes supplemented with an electron donor. In the case of the nitrobenzene derivative, however, such enzymic cis-trans isomerization was not observed in these enzyme systems.