Incorporation of 18O into long-chain, secondary alcohols derived from ester mycolic acids in Mycobacterium phlei

Abstract 18 O from an 18 O 2 atmosphere was actively incorporated into long-chain, secondary alcohols, such as 2-octadecanol, 2-eicosanol and 2-docosanol, which are derived from ester mycolic acids, by short-term incubation of the growing cell suspension of Mycobacterium phlei. Under the same conditions, the absence of significant ions due to 18 O incorporation into dicarboxy mycolic acids, which are also derived from ester mycolic acids, indicated that the ester mycolic acids were synthesized from keto mycolic acids by a reaction which is biologically equivalent to Baeyer-Villiger-type oxidation.