Imino compounds useful for making .beta.-lactams

Abstract From the Canadian patent

This specification discloses optically uniform compounds of the general formula, wherein R3 and R4 each represent a lower hydrocarbon group which optionally contains oxygen and which is attached via a carbon atom, whereby R3 and R4 can also be joined with one another to form together with the atoms to which they are attached a 5 or 6-membered ring and Z', represents a readily cleavable protecting group and the, corresponding optical antipodes thereof. The manufacture of these compounds and their use in the manufacture of antimicrobially-active .beta.-lactams is also disclosed. These compounds are valuable intermediate products for the manufacture of pharmaceutically active substances and in …