Abstract: A process for decreasing esterase activity present in the presence of D-amino acid oxidase activity or in the presence of glutarylacylase activity in a mixture having esterase activity and D-amino acid oxidase activity and/or having esterase activity and glutarylacylase activity by treatment with phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride; immobilized biocatalyts in spherical particle form obtainable by treating microorganism cells having enzyme activity with a primary or secondary amine containing polymer, an organic solvent which is able to form a two-phase system with water and a bifunctional agent; and the use of that process and biocatalysts in the production of 7-aminocephalo-sporanic acid, 7-amino-3-hydroxymethyl-3-cephem-4-carboxylic acid and cephalosporin antibiotics.

Abstract: A process is presented for producing spherical particles containing microorganism cells having desired enzyme activity. The process comprises the steps of mixing the cells directly with a primary or secondary amine-containing polymer, combining the resulting mixture with an organic solvent to form a two-phase system, and then adding a bifunctional cross-linking agent to yield the spherical particles. The preferred enzyme activities are D-amino acid oxidase and glutarylacylase activities.