Edman degradation analyses

A major advance was devised by Pehr Edrnan (University of Lund, Sweden) that has become the standard method for N-terminal residue analysis. The Edman degradation is based on the chemistry shown in Figure 27.12. A peptide reacts with phenyl isothiocyanate to give a phenylthiocarbamoyl (PTC) derivative, as shown in the first step. This PTC derivative is then treated with an acid in an anhydrous medium (Edrnan used nitrornethane saturated with hydrogen chloride) to cleave the amide bond between the N-terminal anino acid and the remainder of the peptide. No other peptide bonds are cleaved in this step as amide bond hydrolysis requires water. When the PTC derivative is treated with acid in an anhydrous medium, the sulfur atom of the C=S unit acts as... 

Figure 26.4 MECHANISM Mechanism of the Edman degradation for N-terminal analysis of peptides.

Fietzek, P. P., and Kiihn, K. Automation of the Sequence Analysis by Edman Degradation of Proteins and Peptides. 29, 1-28 (1972). 

In 1950 an alternative to the Sanger procedure for identifying N-terminal amino acids was reported by Edman—reaction with phenyl-isothiocyanate to give a phenylthiocarbamide labeled peptide. When this was heated in anhydrous HC1 in nitromethane, phenylthiohy-dantoin was split off, releasing the free a-NH2 group of the amino acid in position 2 in the sequence. While initially the FDNB method was probably the more popular, the quantitative precision which could be obtained by the Edman degradation has been successfully adapted to the automatic analysis of peptides in sequenators. 

Automation of the Sequence Analysis by Edman Degradation of Proteins and Peptides... 

Gas chromatography is used to analyze volatile derivatives of amino acids. Phenylthiohydantoins (products of Edman degradation) may be analyzed directly by GC but are better resolved if converted to their trimethylsilyl derivatives with N, O-bis(trimethylsilyl) acetamide. Free amino acids are generally converted to their 7V-trifluoroacetyl- -butyl esters or trimethylsilyl derivatives before GC analysis. For best results, all gas chromatography of amino acid derivatives should be done with a glass column and injection port, as contact with metals causes extensive decomposition of the derivatives. 

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