Biotransformation of androstenedione by Aspergillusglaucus

In the present work, androstenedione (5) was incubated with Aspergillus glaucus MRC 200914 in order to see how this fungus metabolises the substrate. The medium was prepared for the fungus in 1 L of distilled water and then disrubuted into 10 erlenmeyer flasks of 250 mL. The medium in flaks was sterilized by an autoclave. These flasks were then inoculated by the fungus and incubated for 3 days at 25 ºC on a shaker. The substrate in DMF was added aseptically into these flasks. All flasks were further incubated for 5 days. After incubation, the mycellium was then separated from the broth by filtration. The mycellium was rinsed with ethyl acetate and the broth was then extracted with ethyl acetate. All extracts were dried over sodium sulfate anhydrous and evaporated in vacuo to give a brown gum. This gum was then chromatographed on silica gel 60. 11α-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione (13) ve 6β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione (18) were obtained from the chromatography work. The structures of these compounds were determined by comparing melting points, NMR and IR spectra of the substrate with those of steroids.