Production of dicarboxylic acids important for technology

Maleic anhydride is a suitable and easily available substrate for preparati on of organic acids for pharmaceutical and food industries. The paper descr ibes preparation, based on maleic acid, of tartaric, malic, fumaric and epo xysuccinic acids by chemical synthesis or microbial transformation. In biot ransformations, pure cultures of microorganisms, immobilized cells, enzyme solutions or immobilized enzymes are used. Production of tartaric and malic acids can be accomplished by typical biotransformations with immobilized c ells in high yields.