Products Formed from Analogues of 1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2-Bis(p-Chlorophenyl) Ethane (DDT) Metabolites by Pseudomonas putida.

Cultures of Pseudomonas putida growing in solutions with diphenylmethane as sole carbon source formed 1,1,1',1'-tetraphenyldimethyl ether. The product was identified by gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. The formation of benzophenone, benzhydrol, and phenylglycolic acid was established by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Similar techniques also revealed that phenylacetic acid was a major metabolite. Resting cell suspensions converted benzhydrol to phenyl-glycolic acid and products tentatively identified as hydroxybenzhydrols and a hydroxybenzophenone. Cell suspensions of the bacterium also converted the tetraphenyldimethyl ether to benzhydrol and benzophenone. Possible pathways for the degradation of these analogues of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) metabolites are discussed.