Desulfurization of penicillins to prepare azetidinones

摘要

A process for the Raney nickel desulfurization of penicillins is described. In the process of the invention, amino penicillanic acid or derivatives thereof are reacted with Raney nickel under controlled conditions of temperature and time to yield azetidinones which are useful as intermediates for the synthesis of monocyclic beta-lactam antibiotics.