Penicillin Acylase in the Industrial Production of β-Lactam Antibiotics

Immobilized penicillin acylase is a biocatalyst suitable for the kinetically controlled industrial synthesis of semi-synthetic antibiotics in aqueous environments. Amoxicillin and ampicillin are obtained by condensing 6-aminopenicillanic acid with the amide or ester of d-(−)-4-hydroxyphenylglycine and d-(−)-phenylglycine, respectively. Similarly, the cephalosporin antibiotics cefadroxil and cephalexin can be obtained from 7-aminodesacetoxycephalosporanic acid.