Reactions between amino acid compounds and phenols during oxidation

Abstract

About 30 per cent of organic soil nitrogen can be hydrolized with HCl to amino acids; about 30 per cent is nonhydrolizable. In contrast to this high content of amino acid nitrogen is the small availability of the nitrogen to micro-organisms. In light of the theory proposing a reaction between the α-amino group of amino acids or peptides and quinones formed during oxidation of lignin degradation products or other phenolic compound, different types of phenols were oxidized by phenolases in presence of amino acid compounds. It could be shown that the reaction of binding of nitrogen started at pH values higher than 6.5, and that only such phenols reacted which had no methoxylated hydroxyl groups. The reaction of some phenols during oxidation in presence of amino acids was accompanied by deamination and decarboxylation of the latter. The reaction products of phenols with amino acids were stable against hydrolysis. Using peptides it was found that all amino acids, except the N-terminal which is bound to oxidized phenols, could be hydrolyzed normally. With serum albumin it could be shown that there is a reaction with the amino group of the N-terminal amino acid and also with the e-amino group of lysine residues with phenols during oxidation. The reacted protein seemed to be degraded normally with a protease ofBacillus subtilis.