Carboxylic function activation, during

The efficiency of this method was demonstrated by the elegant two-step synthesis of aspartame [87], Protection of the a-amino group and activation of the a-carboxylic group are accomplished in only one step Deprotection of the amino functionality occurs during aminolysis, such as with methyl phenylalaninate (H-Phe-OMe in equation 15)... 

The main problem a peptide chemist has to tackle with CMetrasubstituted a-amino acids is their rather poor reactivity in peptide-bond formation due to steric hindrance at the a-carbon. In addition, during the activation process of the carboxylic function of peptides and urethane or amide N-protected derivatives, an intramolecular reaction leading to the oxazoI -5 (4 //) -on e heterocyclic skeleton is greatly favored by the gem-dialkyl effect (Scheme... 

Such condensation reactions are also promoted by certain trTvalent phosphorus compounds, e.g. triphenyl phosphite (2) or diphenyl ethylphosphonite (3), or to a lesser extent by pFosphonate esters, e.g. diphenyl n-butylphosphonate (3). "Bates reagent," p-oxobi s[tri s(cTi methyl ami no)phosphoni urn] bi s-tetra-f1uoroborate (2) may also be used to activate the carboxyl function towards amide bond formation during peptide synthesis (4) and to bring about the Beckmann rearrangement of ketoximes (F). 

The bulk structure is predominantly amorphous and the surface is hydrophobic. During activation with polar oxygen functional groups such as hydroxyl, both carbonyl and carboxyl functions are formed which act as acidic and basic surface sites. 

Merrifield s original idea was based on the general scheme of stepwise condensation of N-protected amino acids to the first one, which is linked with its carboxyl function by an ester bond to the insoluble polymer support. This way of solid phase peptide synthesis resulted from the well-known risk of racemization during activation of peptidic carboxyl components, which is minimized in activated amino acid derivatives, N-acylated by urethane-type protecting groups [40] (Fig. 7). Depending on the chosen method, the C-terminal activation of N-protected peptides tends to racemize a certain amount of the material because of the possible formation of an oxazolinone intermediate [41] (Fig. 8). 

Two general approaches are possible. The first is to convert the amino protected amino acid to an activated form and then react this with the amino function of a second amino acid. As will be recalled, activation is necessary as work must be done during peptide bond formation. Alternatively, it is possible to react two amino acids together (one amino protected, the other carboxyl protected) in the presence of a coupling agent which activates the carboxyl function in situ. The former approach shall be examined first. 

Acylation reactions can be done at the nucleophilic sites on pyrimidines using activated forms of carboxylic acids. Acylation of functional groups in nucleotides typically is used for protection during synthesis (Reese, 1973). However, for bioconjugate applications, the reactivity of native groups on pyrimidines is not as great as that obtained using an amine-terminal spacer derivative, such as those described in Chapter 27, Section 2.1. Yields and reaction rates are typically low for direct acylation or alkylation of pyrimidine bases, especially in aqueous environments. 

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