Biotransformation of aromatic compounds. Monitoring fluorinated analogues by NMR.

The results presented here illustrate the power of NMR in the non-invasive analysis of microbial transformations. Whilst the definitive identification of products requires purification and full structural elucidation. NMR can provide rapid insights into the nature of these reactions and their regulation in vivo. In addition, once the products have been identified NMR methods allow rapid assessment of the effects of genetic and physiological manipulation, and on competing metabolic fluxes with mixed substrates and branched pathways.