Antimony biomethylation

Andrewes P, Cullen WR and Polishchuk E (2000a) Antimony biomethylation by scopulariopsis brevicaulis Characterization of intermediates and the methyl donors. Chemosphere 41 1717-1725. 

Unequivocal evidence for in vivo antimony biomethylation by humans has not been found, although methylantimony species have been detected in very low abundance in human urine. Administration of antimony tichloride to rats has been reported to completely inhibit the biomethylation of arsenic by rat liver cytosol, but there was no evidence of antimony biomethylation in vivo ... 

Andrewes, P., Cullen, W.R. and Polishchuk, E. (2000) Arsenic and antimony biomethylation by Scopulariopsis brevicaulis interaction of arsenic and antimony compounds. Environmental Science Technology, 34, 2249-53. 

Antimony does not appear to be an essential ultratrace element and does not appear to undergo metabolic reactions analogous to those of arsenic for example, no biomethylation of antimony has been detected.178 Antimony trioxide is now suspected to be carcinogenic to humans. 

Aerobic microbial biomethylation, antimony, 12, 644 AFM, see Atomic force microscopy Aggregation, gas-phase study applications, 1, 803—804 Agostic complexes... 

Microbial biomethylation, antimony, 12, 644 Microbial dealkylation, examples, 12, 610 Microbial demethylation, examples, 12, 610 Micro-emulsion techniques, for molecular precursor transformations, 12, 46 Microencapsulation... 

Recent interests have focused on establishing whether inorganic antimony is reduced and biomethylated in the environment, and the development of methods which provide unequivocal identification of the various chemical species. Dodd et at. (1996) produced one of the first pieces of evidence to show the presence of antimony species in biota collected from polluted lakes. Four antimony-containing species Sb(III) methylstibine, CH3SbH2 dimethylstibine, (CH3)2SbH and trimethylstibine, (CH3)3Sb were detected. Further evidence of biomethylation was produced by Giirleyiik et at. (1997) who detected (CH3)3Sb in the headspace of soil samples to which the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens K27 and either potassium antimonyltartrate or potassium hexahydroxyantimonate had been added. 

Gurleyiik, H., Fleet-Stalder, V.V. and Chasteen, T.G. (1997) Confirmation of the biomethylation of antimony compounds. Appl. Organomet. Chem., 11, 471M83. 

McsSb is also formed in very low yield by the process of biomethylation of Sb203 or other antimony compounds by the wood rotting fungus Phaeolus schweinitzii ... 

Biological methylation of antimony has not been demonstrated directly by use of experimental organisms. However, methylstibonic acid and dimethylstibinic add were found in fact in marine and estuarine environment . There is no obvious thermodynamic barrier to biomethylation. The chemical similarity between Sb and Sn, Pb, As, Se and Te, which surround Sb in the periodic table, and all of which have been shown to be subject to biomethylation, would suggest the existence of a biomethylation pathway also for antimony. This possibility assumes importance when the current extensive use ca 2 X lO kgy" in United State and ca lO kgy in Japan) of inorganic and organic antimony compounds in conjunction with halocarbons in fire retardant systems is considered. Products containing antimony-hased fire retardant systems include textiles, plastics, elastomers, paper, wood, paints and coatings. ... 

The formation of methyl antimony compounds by biomethylation has been confirmed only recently [25], despite the fact that methyl antimony compounds have been found in natural waters before [3a], The research on alkylated antimony compounds in biological environments got an initial impetus from the examinations on the possible role of trimethylstibine as contributor to the sudden infant death syndrome [26],... 

Andrewes et al. 2000a). It also has been shown that antimony suppresses the biomethylation of arsenic, while the latter enhances the biomethylation of antimony (Andrewes et al., 2000a). Organoantimony compounds have been isolated from the pond weed Potamogeton pectinatus and a marine diatom that contained a stibnolipid (Filella et al. 2002). 

Since the mid-1990s, the biomethylation of antimony has been investigated intensively in relation to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Involatile methylantimony species, thought to be produced through past microbial activity, have more recently been reported in polyurethane foams of some cot mattresses containing antimony trioxide as fire retardant, but a causal link with SIDS was not evident. ... 

Jenkins, R. O. Biomethylation of arsenic, antimony and hismnth, (Ch. 7) In Sun, H., ed. Biological Chemistry of Arsenic, Antimony and Bismuth John Wiley Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ, 2011 400 pp. An up-to-date summary of detailed irformation on biomethylation. 

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