Nitto Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

Mitsubishi Rayon Company, Limited

Takakazu Endo

Koji Tamura

Yoshihiro Hashimoto

Makoto Kaneko

Mami Kato

Yuji Hirata

Kiyonobu Niwa

Hiroyasu Banba

Shigeho Tanaka

Etsuko Kobayashi

Tomohide Yamagami

Osamu Kato

Hitoshi Shimizu

Ichiro Watanabe

Teruhiko Beppu

Wataru Mizunashi

Kanehiko Enomoto

Sueharu Horinouchi

Eiji Ozaki

Toshihiko Fukuda

Toshiaki Doi

Kouzo Murao

Osamu Ikehata

Chiharu Fujita

Rikiya Takahashi

Crystals of &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinic acid which have a bulk density of 0.45 to 1.2 g/cm , and a process for obtaining these crystals comprising the steps of adjusting an aqueous solution of an &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinic acid metal salt to a temperature of 40 to 80&deg; C. and a pH of 1.9 to 4.5, and cooling the solution to a temperature below 40&deg; C. over a period of 0.2 to 10 hours while supplying a mineral acid so as to maintain the pH at 1.9 to 4.5 to precipitate &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinic acid in a high yield.

&lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinic acid crystal with high bulk density and process for obtaining the same

Crystals of &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinic acid with high bulk density and method of obtaining the same

The present invention relates to a method of producing &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinate wherein a microorganism having malate isomerase activity or matter processed therefrom and a microorganism having ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinate ethylenediamine lyase activity or matter processed therefrom are allowed to act on a substrate solution containing maleic acid, maleic anhydride, or a maleic acid salt, and ethylenediamine, in the presence of at least one metal ion selected from the group consisting of alkaline earth metals, iron, zinc, copper, nickel, aluminum, titanium and manganese. The present invention enables to accumulate &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinate in a higher yield and at a high concentration within a reaction system using maleic acid as a raw material.

Methods for producing &lsqb;S,S&rsqb;-ethylenediamine-N,N&prime;-disuccinate

Process for producing malonic acid derivatives

Process for producing alkali metal

This invention relates to a method for removing fumarase activity from a microorganism or processed product thereof having ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid ethylenediamine lyase activity, which includes treating the microorganism or processed product thereof with an aqueous alkaline solution at a pH of 8.0 to 10.5 in the presence of at least one salt with a concentration of 5 mM to 1000 mM. The salt is preferably selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, ammonium and C.sub.2-6 alkanediamine salts of boric acid, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, oxalic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid and ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid, and mixtures thereof. This invention also relates to a microorganism or processed product thereof having reduced fumarase activity obtainable by the above described method, and to a method for producing an optically active aminopolycarboxylic acid from fumaric acid and a compound having amino group in the presence of the microorganim or processed product thereof having reduced fumarase activity as a catalyst.

Method for removing fumarase activity, microorganisms obtainable by the

A process for producing an optically active aminopolycarboxylic acid, such as S,S-ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid, from a mixture of a diamine, such as ethylenediamine, with fumaric acid using a microorganism having a lyase activity, wherein at least one metal ion selected from the group consisting of an alkaline earth metal, iron, zinc, copper, nickel, aluminum, titanium and manganese is added to the reaction system. According to this process, aminopolycarboxylic acids, such as S,S-ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid, or metal complexes thereof, can be appropriately and efficiently produced while improving the reaction yield.

Process for producing optically active aminopolycarboxylic acid

A biological process for predominantly producing an optically active .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acid having a phenyl group directly from a racemic .alpha.-hydroxynitrile or a mixture of an aldehyde corresponding to the nitrile and prussic acid as a substrate is disclosed, comprising reacting a microorganism belonging to the genus Rhodococcus, Alcaligenes, Brevibacterium or Pseudomonas with the substrate in a neutral to basic aqueous medium. A desired optically active .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acid having a phenyl group can be obtained quantitatively at a high optical purity.

Process for producing optically active .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acid

A method of producing an optically active amino acid is disclosed which comprises converting a mixture of an amino group-containing compound, e.g., an alkanediamine, and fumaric acid into an optically active amino acid by the action of a microorganism. The method is useful in industrially producing an optically active amino acid from the inexpensive starting materials, i.e., fumaric acid and an amino compound, under mild conditions of ordinary temperature and ordinary pressure.

Production of alkylene or phenylenediamine disuccinic acid from fumaric

Cells having enzyme activity, and the enzyme activity thereof, are preserved for a prolonged period of time, as a suspension of microbial cells or as a suspension of immobilized cells in particles, in an aqueous medium that is a neutral or weakly basic aqueous solution of inorganic salts, having a molarity ranging from 100 mM to the saturation concentration of the inorganic salts. Preferably, the microbial cells are cells containing the enzyme, nitrile hydratase or nitrilase, such as Gordona terrae or Rhodococcus rhodochrous, and the inorganic salts are phosphates, borates, sulfates, sulfites or hydrochlorides. The present invention provides an industrially useful method for preserving a large quantity of cells or immobilized cells in particles having nitrile hydratase or nitrilase enzyme activity for a prolonged period of time (e.g., 300 days) without cell lysis or enzyme deterioration even at room temperature. The present invention also renders possible a sharp reduction in labor and cooling cost, which are necessary in the conventional preservation process.

Method for preserving nitrile hydratase or nitrilase activity of

A biological process for predominantly producing an optically active .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acid having a phenyl group directly from a racemic .alpha.-hydroxynitrile or a mixture of an aldehyde corresponding to the nitrile and prussic acid as a substrate is disclosed, comprising reacting a microorganism belonging to the genus Gordona with the substrate in a neutral to basic aqueous medium. A desired optically active .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acid having a phenyl group can be obtained quantitatively at a high optical purity.

Process for producing optically active a-hydroxycarboxylic acid having

A process for biologically producing an .alpha.-hydroxyamide or an .alpha.-hydroxy acid represented by formula (III) ##STR1## wherein R represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryloxy group or a substituted or unsubstituted and saturated or unsaturated heterocyclic group; and X represents an amido group or a carboxyl group, comprising reacting an .alpha.-hydroxynitrile represented by formula (I): ##STR2## wherein R is as defined above, or a mixture of an aldehyde represented by formula (II):

Biological process for producing .alpha.-hydroxyamide or .alpha.-hydroxy

A process for treating R,S-mandelonitrile or a derivative thereof or a mixture of benzaldehyde or a derivative thereof, and; hydrogen cyanide, with a microorganism belonging to the genus Rhodococcus sp. HT29-7 (FERM BP-3857) in an almost neutral or basic aqueous medium to thereby directly produce a predominant amount of R(-)-mandelic acid or a derivative thereof, whereby the racemic R,S-mandelonitrile or a derivative thereof or benzaldehyde or a derivative thereof and hydrogen cyanide can be directly converted into R(-)-mandelic acid or a derivative thereof at a ratio of about 80 to 100% and at an optical purity of almost 100%.sub.ee without performing any optical resolution.

Process for producing R(-)-mandelic acid or a derivative thereof from a

A process for preparing glycine from glycinonitrile by reacting glycinonitrile with a hydrolase produced by a microorganism, wherein the microorganism is a member of a genus selected from the group consisting of Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, Caseobacter, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Acinetobacter, Alcaliqenes, and Streptomyces. The process involves no by-production, and the microorganism has high hydrolizing activity to convert glycinonitrile to glycine.

Process for preparing glycine from glycinonitrile

A process for preparing an optically active lactic acid comprising subjecting DL-lactonitrile or acetaldehyde and prussic acid to the action of a microorganism belonging to the genus Enterobacter, Arthrobacter, Caseobacter, Brevibacterium, Aureobacterium, Escherichia, Micrococcus, Streptomyces, Flavobacterium, Aeromonas, Nocardia, Mycoplana, Cellulomonas, Erwinia, Candida, Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, Bacillus, Alcaligenes, Corynebacterium, Microbacterium or Obsumbacterium, or treated microbial cells thereof, which the microorganism is capable of stereospecifically hydrolyzing a nitrile in a polar solvent. D-Lactic acid or L-lactic acid can be produced directly in a predominant proportion from the starting materials.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Takakazu Endo