A convenient method of chemical resolution of DL-N-acyl amino acids was described. The resolution by using salt of N-acyl derivatives with a certain simple base, especially L-leucinamide, was discussed. A new agent, L-leucinamide, readily gave L-alanine, L-valine, L-leucine, L-phenylalanine, L-tryptophan and L-methionine from the corresponding DL-N-acyl derivatives. Resolution done with i-tyrosinamide and L-phenylaninamide gave products lower in yield and purity than those resolved with L-leucinamide as resolving agent.

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DL-Glutamic acid has been resolved into optically active forms as the diastereoisomeric salt of optically active neutral amino acid amides, and the salt is easily converted to the sodium salt of the active forms. By resolution with L-tyrosinamide and L-leucinamide, sodium L-glutamate was obtained in 65 and 80 per cent yield respectively. Attempts to extend this method to resolution of DL-glutamic acid using L-phenylalaninamide as resolving agent resulted in poor yield of less pure D-glutamic acid.
By the infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis it has been confirmed that the diastereoisomeric salts of L-leucinamide or L-tyrosinamide with L-or D-glutamic acid compose a combined salt structure in solid state, whereas L-phenylalaninamide with L-or Dglutamic acid does not compose a characteristic diastereoisomeric salt but rather the mechanical mixture of L-phenylalaninamide and L-or D-glutamate anion in solid state.
In the previous study, it was reported that L-leucinamide forms the characteristic diastereoisomeric salts with racemic N-acyl mono amino acids, most of which are fairly resolved into their antipodes.

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The chemical structure of another metabolic product (0-2) which was isolated from the culture filtrate of Oospora astringenes was studied. This compound irritates the skins and has the constrictive actions on the tracheal muscle of the guinea pigs. It has ketone and hydroxyl groups, and thereby has been named oosponol. From the results of the degradation experiments, oosponol is supposed to have the following structure (II).

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We have found that in the alcoholic fermentation of amino acids by yeast isobutyl alcohol is produced from alanine and n-propyl and active amyl alcohols are formed from α-amino-n-butyric acid or threonine contrary to the F. Ehrlich's scheme. These results suggest the close relationship among the formation of these higher alcohols and biosynthesis of valine from alanine and biosynthesis of isoleucine from α-amino-n-butyric acid or threonine. In this report, we studied the formation of n-propyl alcohol and active amyl alcohol from α-amino-n-butyric acid using washed yeast cells.

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It has been observed that, in the culture medium, the toxicity of p-benzoquinone on bakers' yeast decreases with time, and the decreasing process was examine from the view point of chemical reaction of quinone with thecomponent of the medium.
As a result, it was shown that quinone concentration decreases by its 1, 4-addition reaction with amino radicals of the component of the medium, and it was concluded that the inhibiting effect of quinone on the yeast growth is determined by the velocity of death of the yeast by the toxicity of quinone and that of inactivation of the toxicity by the addition reaction.

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The interaction between microbes (bakers' yeast, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and quinone compounds (p-benzoquinone (BQ), 1, 4-naphthoquinone (NQ) and 2-methy1-1, 4-naphthoquinone (VK₃)) was examined in relation to the mechanism of the antimicrobial effect of quinone compounds.
As a result, quinone compounds were divided in two types by the mechanism of growth inhibiting effect, i. e., the germicidal quinones such as BQ and NQ, and the microbe-static quinone such as VK₃, though all of these quinones were observed to prolong the lag phase of the microbe growth without producing any other effect. In this case, it was considered that the germicidal activity depends upon the activity of 1, 4-addition reaction with amino compounds, and that the microbe-static action depends upon the disorder of the electron transfer in the cell metabolism by the microbial reduction of quinone.

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The adsorption of phenols and esters of acid antiseptics by the bacterial cell (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) was investigated in relatoin to their toxic effect, and it has been observed that the definite quantity of antiseptics must be adsorbed on the solid phase of the bacterial cell in order to give the definite toxic effect, and the toxic effect is independent of the quantity dissolved in the inner cell fluid or in the lipid phase of the cell. The result shows that the toxic effect of these antiseptics on either bacteria and yeast, is exclusively limited by the adsorbed quantity.
The adsorbed quantity required for the definite toxic effect was nearly the same as that previously observed in the case of the yeast, and the mechanism of the toxic action of these antiseptics was assumed to be same with each other in any case of microbes.

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The bacterial growth is inhibited by nitrofurane compounds, although the yeast growth is hardly affected. In relation to the selective toxicity of nitrofuranes for bacteria, the interaction between microbes (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and bakers' yeast) and nitrofurane compounds (5-nitro-2-furfural semicarbazone and 5-nitro-2-furylacryl amide) was examined.
Apparently, in the bacterial suspension containing energy substrate, nitrofuranes are continuously reduced to corresponding aminofuranes, respectively. The velocity of the bacterial reduction at the growth inhibiting condition was evaluated as great as above 30 per cent of the limit of supplying velocity of coenzymes in the cell, the reduction velocity of such value is enough to inhibit the bacterial growth, because the electron transfer in the cell metabolism is disordered.
On the other hand, in the yeast suspension, the reduction velocity was negligibly small. The difference of the reduction ability between bacteria and yeast was seemingly owing to the fact that the permeability of the nitrofuranes differs by the kind of microbe so that it was concluded that the antimicrobial effect of nitrofuranes is limited by the permeability for the microbe cell.

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The components of the fusel oils obtained through the fermentation of corn, barley and sweet molasses were separated by fractional distillation and adsorption chromatography. Each of the components was analyzed by gas chromatography and infrared spectrometry. Newly isolated componcnts were as follows: methyl heptenone, fatty acids having odd number of carbon atoms, acetic esters of higher aliphatic alcohols ranging from C₆ to C¹¹, benzyl alcohol, ethyl phenylacetate, phenylethyl propionate, acetophenone, limonene, and α-ionone. Moreover, an unknown ketone C₁₀H₁₆O were isolated from corn fusel oil, and trans-neroridol from sweet molass fusel oil.

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(±)-trans-2, 2-Dimethyl-3-(2'-methyl-2'-propenyl) cyclopropan-1-carboxylic acid (VII) was obtained by the treatment of (±)-pyrocin (IV) with thionyl chloride and absolute ethanol saturated with dry hydrogen chloride followed by the cyclization action of sodium tert-amylate in dry benzene and alkaline hydrolysis. This was converted into (±)-trans-chrysanthemic acid (VIII) by the catalytic action of p-toluenesulfonic acid.

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Occurrence of protyrosinase in the prepupae of housefly, Musca vicina MAQUART, and its activation were described. The prepupae possessing no appreciable tyrosinase activity could be separated from the other aged pupae by putting them into water. Homogenate prepared from the prepupae contains protyrosinase and has no activation system for the proenzyme. As has been reported by Ohnishi a certain activator occurred naturally in the aged pupae apparently activates the protyrosinase in vitro. However, contrary to Ohnishi'sresults it was found that this protyrosinase can be activated by the treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate in vitro.

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