A new enzymatic method of acrylamide production.

Abstract

To produce acrylamide from acrylonitrile by use of a new enzyme, nitrile hydratase, a number of nitrile-utilizing microorganisms were screened for the enzyme activity by an intact cell system. An isobutyronitrile-utilizing bacterium, strain B23, showed the best productivity among 186 strains tested. The strain was identified taxonomically as Pseudomonas chlor or aphis. The culture and reaction conditions for the production were studied for the strain. Under the optimum conditions, 400 grams/liter of acrylamide was produced in 7.5 hr. The yield was nearly 100% with a trace amount of acrylic acid. The cell-free extract of the strain showed strong activity of nitrile hydratase toward acrylonitrile and extremely low activity of amidase toward acrylamide.