Microbial Transformation of 3,3-Dimethylcyclohexyl methyl ketone and Antimicrobial Evaluation

3,3-Dimethylcyclohexyl methyl ketone (Herbac®) is a fine fragrance compound used in the cosmetic industry. In this study, the biological derivatisation of the substrate 3,3-dimethylcyclohexyl methyl ketone by 18 fungal cultures was carried out to obtain new derivatives. Among the evaluated, the plant fungus Aspergillus niger ATCC 10549, biotransformed the substrate to the 4-hydroxy derivative in 19% yield. The structure was determined by using NMR and GC-MS spectroscopic methods. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of Herbac® with the metabolite against a panel of pathogenic microbial strains were evaluated using in vitro microdilution. The results showed that the metabolite was relatively more susceptible compared to the substrate Herbac®.