Analytical chemistry, peptide research

Combinatorial chemistry has matured from a field where efforts initially focused on peptide-based research to become an indispensable research tool for molecular recognition, chemical-property optimization, and drug discovery. Originally used as a method to primarily generate large numbers of molecules, combinatorial chemistry has been significantly influenced and integrated with other important fields such as medicinal chemistry, analytical chemistry, synthetic chemistry, robotics, and computational chemistry. 

Wilkins MR, Williams KL, Appel RD, Hochstrasser DF (1997) Proteome research new frontiers in functional genomics. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg Yates JR, Speicher S, Griffin PR, Hunkapiller T (1993) Peptide mass maps A highly informative approach to protein identification. Anal Biochem 214 397—408 Yates JR, Eng JK, McCormack AL, Schieltz D (1995) Method to correlate tandem mass spectra of modified peptides to amino acid sequences in the protein database. Analytical Chemistry 67 1426-1436. 

Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Sulphydryl Group in Amino-acids, Peptides and Proteins , by M. Friedman, Pergamon, Oxford, 1973 Sulphur Research Trends , ACS Advances in Chemistry Series No. 110,1971 The Determination of Sulphur-containing Groups , by M. R. F. Ashworth, Vol. 1, Academic Press, London, 1972 The Analytical Chemistry of Sulphur and its Compounds , ed. J. H. Karchmer, Wiley-lnterscience, New York. 1972. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that electrospray has introduced a new era, not only for the analytical mass spectroscopist, but also for the more physically oriented researcher interested in physical measurements involving the above ions, which are of such great importance in condensed-phase ion chemistry. In particular, gas-phase ions produced by electrospray allow, for the first time, thermochemical measurements involving ions of biochemical significance such as protonated peptides, deprotonated nucleotides, and metal ion complexes with peptides and proteins. It is to be expected that such data will be of importance in the development of theoretical modeling of the state of these systems in the condensed phase.34,35... 

The first installment in this series (Volume 267, 1996) mostly covered peptide and peptidomimetic based research with just a few examples of small molecule libraries. In this volume we have compiled cutting-edge research in combinatorial chemistry, including divergent areas such as novel analytical techniques, microwave-assisted synthesis, novel linkers, and synthetic approaches in both solid-phase and polymer-assisted synthesis of peptides, small molecules, and heterocyclic systems, as well as the application of these technologies to optimize molecular properties of scientific and commercial interest. 

We wish to thank our former colleagues at the Institut fiir Peptidforschung (now IPF Pharmaceuticals), Prof. Dr. Dr. Wolf-Georg Forssmann for his pioneering work in comprehensive peptide analysis from blood and Dr. Manfred Raida (present address Cellzome AG) for his invaluable work in analytical peptide chemistry. This work was supported in part by grants from the German Ministry for Education and Research, BMBF (FKZ 0312815), and the Lower Saxony Ministry for Economy and Technology (203.19-32329-5-354). 

His published work covered many fields and included diverse subjects such as the chemistry of amino acids and peptides, especially glutathione mineral metabolism, with special reference to calcium melanin pigment metabolism ascorbic acid metabolism metabolic aspects of cardiac muscle and analytical techniques for lipids, nitrogenous compounds, and cortisol. He was an extraordinarily meticulous analyst who, from the first, maintained that the standards of technique in the service laboratory should be the same as those required for research purposes. He maintained that the fulfillment of clinical chemistry demanded equal collaboration between physician and chemist. The function of the latter was not to usurp that of the former but to assist the clinician by helping to shed light on the nature of an illness. 

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