Biochemical mechanisms for the desulfurization of coal-relevant organic sulfur compounds

Abstract Two microbial strains ( Brevibacterium sp. DO, Pseudomonas aeruginosa OS1) were isolated for their ability to desulfurize dibenzothiophene (DBT) and benzyl methyl sulfide (BMS). Enrichment was achieved by a sulfur-selective screening system using the model compounds as the sole source of sulfur for bacterial growth. Brevibacterium sp. DO utilizes DBT as a sole source of sulfur, carbon and energy for growth, whereas Pseudomonas aeruginosa OS1 metabolizes BMS to only a small extent under sulfur-selective conditions. Investigations of the regulation of enzymes involved in the desulfurization of coal-relevant sulfur compounds indicate that in nature at least two mechanisms exist: ‘carbon regulation’ and ‘sulfur regulation’. The biochemical mechanisms leading to the desulfurization of BMS and DBT are similar. The sulfur atom of both compounds is initially oxidized to the corresponding sulfone, and cleavage of the CS bond proceeds via the formation of a chemically unstable hemimercaptal (S-oxidized form) by oxidation of the carbon atom adjacent to the sulfur atom. These results indicate that oxidation of sulfur to its highest oxidation state may be the precondition for the oxidative cleavage of the covalent CS bonds. By isotope-labelling experiments using 18 O 2 , the initial enzymes were identified as sulfoxygenases that use molecular oxygen. Cleavage of the CS bond of DBT and BMS leads to the formation of organic sulfinic acids as intermediates. With DBT the sulfinic acid is desulfurized probably by hydrolysis; this results in the formation of sulfite and benzoate. The desulfurization of BMS proceeds by sulfonic acid-oxidation. The applicability of these biochemical mechanisms to the microbial desulfurization of coal is discussed.