[Metabolic products of microorganisms. 156. Synthesis and biosynthesis of substituted tryptanthrins (author's transl)].

Candida lipolytica synthesizes the antibiotic tryptanthrin from 1 mole tryptophan and 1 mole anthranilic acid. When feeding tryptophan and substituted anthranilic acids, or substituted tryptophans and anthranilic acid, we could isolate and identify the expected derivatives of tryptanthrin. The enzymes of the biosynthesis of tryptanthrin, with the exception of bromotryptophan, had no specifity for these substrates. In addition to these experiments substituted tryptanthrines were chemically synthesized. We checked them for antibiotic action; the halogen compounds turned out to be especially effective.