BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE USTILAGINALES: VIII. THE STRUCTURES AND CONFIGURATIONS OF THE USTILIC ACIDS

Abstract

Methanolysis of ustilagic acid and hydrolysis of the methyl esters formed yielded a crystalline acidic fraction which was essentially a mixture of two substances termed the ustilic acids A and B. The acids were separated as their iso-propylidene derivatives. The ustilic acids cocrystallize to mixtures with melting points intermediate between those of the pure compounds. Conversion of ustilic acid A, m.p. 112–113 °C, [α]D −8° in methanol, which made up about 70% of the mixture, by hydrogenolysis to palmitic acid, by oxidation with chromic oxide to pentadecanedioic acid, and by lead tetraacetate oxidation followed by hydrogenation to 15-hydroxypentadecanoic acid showed the substance to be an optically active form of 15,16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic acid. Conversion of ustilic acid B, m.p. 140–141 °C, [α]D−10° in methanol, by sodium bismuthate oxidation followed by hydrogenation to 1,14-dihydroxytetradecane, by chromic acid oxidation of its methyl ester followed by hydrolysis of the product, and peroxide oxidation of the α-keto acid thus formed to tetradecanedioic acid, and by hydrogenolysis of the C2-carbon atom through a series of reactions to ustilic acid A, showed the substance to be an optically active form of 2,15,16-trihydroxy-hexadecanoic acid. Optically active forms of 2,15-dihydroxypentadecanoic and 2-hydroxypentadecanoic acids were prepared from ustilic acid B. Application of certain empirical rules of rotation to derivatives of these 2-hydroxyacids showed them to possess the D-configuration. Reduction of ustilic acid B with lithium aluminum hydride gave meso-1,2,15,16-tetrahydroxyhexadecane. Thus, ustilic acid B was the 2D,15D,16-trihydroxyhexadecanoic acid and the ustilic acid A was the 15D,16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic acid. Several derivatives of the above described acids were prepared.