Specific deuteration of dichlorobenzoate during reductive dehalogenation by Desulfomonile tiedjei in D2O.

G D Griffith, J R Cole, J F Quensen, J M Tiedje

Index: Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58(1) , 409-11, (1992)

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Abstract

Desulfomonile tiedjei DCB-1 is a strict anaerobe capable of reductively dechlorinating meta-chlorobenzoates. To probe the mechanism of this aryl dechlorination, we incubated cell suspensions of D. tiedjei in D2O and with 2,5-dichlorobenzoate. The deuterium was incorporated into the dechlorination product exclusively at the position of dehalogenation, as shown by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and proton magnetic resonance analyses. These results favor a model for dechlorination that should not allow proton exchange at other positions, as would be the case if partial ring reduction occurred.