Metabolic pathway
Although n-alkyl-substituted tetrahydrothiophenes are
found in non-biodegraded petroleum, they are not
found in petroleums that have undergone
biodegradation in their reservoirs. These observations
suggest that this group of compounds with an alkyl
chain length from approximately C10 to at least C30 is
biodegradable. By five gram-positive, n-alkane-
degrading bacterial isolates, the alkyl side chains of
2-n-undecyltetrahydrothiophene (UTHT) and 2-n-
dodecyltetrahydrothiophene (DTHT) are oxidized, and
the major intermediates found in the cultures are 2-n-
tetrahydrothiophenecarboxylic acid (THTC) and 2-tetrahydrothiopheneacetic acid (THTA), respectively.
By four fungi, DTHT is degraded to yield both THTA
and THTC. By 28 day-old bacterial and fungal cultural
incubation, THTC and THTA are metabolized further
to unidentified products.
