Microbial transformation of racemic hydantoins to D-amino acids

It has been shown that resting cells of Agrobacterium radiobacter catalyze a sequence of two stereospecific hydrolytic reactions leading to the complete transformation of racemic hydantoins to D-amino acids. This report describes some properties of this new biocatalyst and its potential application for the production of some D-amino acids, which are used as intermediates in the preparation of semisynthetic penicillin and cephalosporins.