Incorporation of [18O]water in the formation of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol by the p-cresol methylhydroxylase from Pseudomonas putida.

In the hydroxylation of the methyl group of p-cresol by an enzyme from Pseudomonas putida the oxygen atom is derived from water. Although a second reaction by the same enzyme converts the product, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, into the aldehyde, the alcohol is an enzyme-free intermediate.