Abstract The conversion of 2-phenoxyethanol to phenol and acetate by the anaerobic bacterium Acetobacterium sp. strain LuPhet1 proceeds through acetaldehyde with concomitant migration of a H-atom from C (1) to C (2) of the glycolic moiety. Separate feeding experiments with (R)-and (S)-2-phenoxy (1-2 H) ethanol, prepared via chemoenzymatic syntheses, indicate that the H-atom involved in the 1, 2-shift is the pro-S ...
