Metabolism of fluoroorganic compounds in microorganisms: Impacts for the environment and the production of fine chemicals

Incorporation of fluorine into an organic compound can favourably alter its physicochemical
properties with respect to biological activity, stability and lipophilicity. Accordingly, this
element is found in many pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals. Organofluorine
compounds are accepted as substrates by many enzymes, and the interactions of
microorganisms with these compounds are of relevance to the environment and the fine
chemicals industry. One the one hand the microbial transformation of fluorinated compounds
can lead to the generation of toxic compounds that are of environmental concern, yet similar
biotransformations can yield difficult-to-synthesise products and intermediates, in particular
derivatives of biologically active secondary metabolites. In this paper we review the
historical and recent developments of organofluorine biotransformation in microorganisms,
and highlight the possibility of using microbes as models of fluorinated drug metabolism in
mammals.