Biotransformation is an eco-friendly and effective
strategy for enhancing the chemical diversity of natural products
for biological screening. Among various biotransformation
methods, laccase-mediated transformations have successfully
yielded bioactive compounds across multiple chemical classes. In
this study, laccases from Trametes versicolor were used to catalyze
the biotransformation of the dihydrostilbene gigantol and the
phenanthrenes flavidin and coleonin, leading to the formation of a
series of structurally complex derivatives. The selected substrates
were subjected to laccase-mediated biotransformation and the
reactions were followed using state-of-the-art analytical techniques.
Depending on the reaction conditions, the process led to the formation of multiple monomers, dimers and trimers. After
optimization and scale-up of the biotransformation reactions, the crude mixtures were purified by high-resolution semipreparative
HPLC using dry-load injection. This workflow enabled the isolation of 13 structurally diverse derivatives, with 10 compounds being
reported for the first time. All products were comprehensively characterized using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This study underscores the promising potential of fungal laccase-mediated
biotransformation as a tool to diversify bioactive natural product structures, thereby generating novel scaffolds of interest for
biological screening campaigns.