Long-Range1H-15N Heteronuclear Shift Correlation at Natural Abundance: a Tool To Study Benzothiazole Biodegradation by TwoRhodococcusStrains

Abstract
The biodegradation of benzothiazole and 2-hydroxybenzothiazole by two strains ofRhodococcuswas monitored by reversed phase high-pressure liquid chromatography and by1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Both xenobiotics were biotransformed into a hydroxylated derivative of 2-hydroxybenzothiazole by these two strains. The chemical structure of this metabolite was determined by a new NMR methodology: long-range1H-15N heteronuclear shift correlation without any previous15N enrichment of the compound. This powerful NMR tool allowed us to assign the metabolite structure to 2,6-dihydroxybenzothiazole.