Preparative biosynthesis of natural glucosides and fluorogenic substrates for beta-glucosidases followed by in vivo C-13 NMR with high density plant cell cultures

The natural glucosides, picein (2), o-coumaric acid glucoside (4), and cinnamic acid glucoside (5) could be prepared by preparative biosynthesis in yields of 91, 65 and 69% resp., using high density plant cell suspension cultures. The cell suspensions also glucosylated synthetic phenolic compounds at remarkable rates. Fluorescein was glucosylated in yields > 90% and the product (6) could be obtained in high purity (> 98%). In vivo C-13 NMR spectroscopy at the natural abundance of C-13 has been successfully applied to follow the formation of such glucosides.