Glycinol is a pterocarpan, a type of natural phenol. It is a phytoalexin found in the soybean (Glycine max) and is biosynthesised from daidzein. Glycinol has potent phytoestrogenic activity. The so-called osteogenesis that this causes is postulated to be a preventative factor for osteoporosis. Glycinol can be synthethised chemically and possesses two chiral centers. It is a precursor to glyceollins through the action of prenyltransferase enzymes such as trihydroxypterocarpan dimethylallyltransferase.
Biosynthesis In plants such as soybean, glycinol is derived from the daidzein in a sequence of steps. The final hydroxylation reaction is carried out by the enzyme 3,9-dihydroxypterocarpan 6a-monooxygenase, which is a cytochrome P450 protein that uses molecular oxygen to introduce the hydroxy group.
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