The Epoxidation of Unsaturated Steroids

Data for several additional instances of epoxidation by biological systems at isolated unsaturated sites on steroid structures are presented.These systems include the bovine adrenal, Curvularia lunata and a Curvularia species. This reaction predictably occurred only in the presence of enzymes capable of introducing “axial” hydroxyl functions at saturated carbons of corresponding analogous structures. A discussion of the implication of these findings in terms of the mechanism of the enzymatic hydfoxylation reaction is given.