反应详情

The amount of the substrate which is dissolved in an aqueous suspension of a penicillin amidase-producing microorganism is not critical in the present invention. For example, penicillin is dissolved in water at any concentration. The aforementioned immobilized microorganism is suspended in the aqueous penicillin solution, and the suspension is stirred. After the reaction is completed, the mixture is filtered or centrifuged to recover the immobilized microorganism for subsequent use. 6-APA is recovered from the filtrate or supernatant solution. The optimum condition for complete conversion of penicillin to 6-APA can be readily obtained by adjusting the reaction time. Alternatively, the enzymatic reaction of the invention can be performed by a column method. The column method enables the reaction to be carried out in a successive manner. For example, the immobilized microorganism is charged into a column, and an aqueous penicillin solution is passed through the column at a suitable flow rate. An aqueous solution containing 6-APA is obtained as the effluent. 6-APA is recovered by a known method per se such as, for example, adjusting the effluent to a pH of 4 to 5. In carrying out the enzymatic reaction, the conversion rate of penicillin to 6-APA mainly depends upon the enzymatic potency of the immobilized microorganism, the temperature or the reaction time. In case of the column method, however, the optimum reaction condition for complete conversion of penicillin to 6-APA can be readily obtained by adjusting the flow rate of the substrate solution.

1. filtrationthe mixture is filtered
2. customto recover the immobilized microorganism for subsequent use
3. custom6-APA is recovered from the filtrate or supernatant solution