Microbial oxidation of anabolic steroids.

Microbial transformation of two anabolic steroids, ethylestrenol (1) and nandrolone (2), were carried out. Ethylestrenol (1), when incubated with Rhizopus stolonifer (TSY 0471), yielded two oxidative metabolites named 17alpha-ethyl-3beta,17beta-dihydroxy-19-norndrost-4-ene (3) and 17alpha-ethyl-17beta-hydroxy-19-norandrost-4-en-3-one (4), while incubation of compound 2 with the same fungus yielded two oxidative metabolites, 19-norandrost-4-en-3,17-dione (5) and 6alpha,17beta-dihydroxy-19-norandrost-1,4-dien-3-one (6).