The hydantoinase from Vigna angularis has been shown to catalysis the hydrolysis of a range of racemic 6-substituted dihydrouracils to yield the corresponding N-carbamoyl-(S)-β-amino acids and unreacted (R)-dihydrouracils. High enantioselectivity (E >100) was achieved in cases that the C-6 substituent was an aryl group. Subsequent treatment of the N-carbamoyl derivatives with nitrous acid yielded the free β-amino acid.

We describe for the first time the homogenous assembly of a water soluble polyrotaxane from HP-β-CD and an anionic posphodiester. The resulting polyrotaxane displays cholesterol normalization activity in NPC cells.