1. Preparation of the very acid-sensitive Fmoc-Lys(Mtt)-OH. Application in the synthesis of side-chain to side-chain cyclic peptides and oligolysine cores suitable for the solid-phase assembly of MAPs and TASPs
A Aletras, K Barlos, D Gatos, S Koutsogianni, P Mamos Int J Pept Protein Res. 1995 May;45(5):488-96. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3011.1995.tb01065.x.
N alpha-9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-N epsilon-4=methyltrityl-lysine, [Fmoc-Lys(Mtt)-OH], was prepared in two steps from lysine, in 42% overall yield. The N epsilon-Mtt function can be quantitatively removed upon treatment with 1% TFA in dichloromethane or with a 1:2:7 mixture of acetic acid/trifluoroethanol/dichloromethane for 30 min and 1 h at room temperature, respectively. Under these conditions, groups of the tert-butyl type and peptide ester bonds to TFA-labile resins, such as the 2-chlorodiphenylmethyl- and the Wang-resin, remained intact. The utility of the new derivative in peptide synthesis has been exemplified with the synthesis of a cyclic cholecystokinin analog. As an example of further application, five types of lysine cores suitable for the solid-phase synthesis of one, two or three epitopes containing antigenic peptides or template-assembled synthetic proteins have been synthesized on Merrifield, Wang and 2-chlorodiphenylmethyl resin.
2. Comparison of 55% TFA/CH2Cl2 and 100% TFA for Boc group removal during solid-phase peptide synthesis
S E Blondelle, R A Houghten Int J Pept Protein Res. 1993 Jun;41(6):522-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3011.1993.tb00473.x.
Two parallel syntheses of 40 C-terminal amide peptides, ranging in length from 4 to 20 residues, have been carried out using simultaneous multiple peptide synthesis. All synthetic steps, other than the removal of the Boc group, were performed simultaneously under identical experimental conditions. The two sets of peptides were deprotected with either 55% TFA/DCM for 30 min or 100% TFA for 5 min. The purity of the peptides obtained when deprotecting with 55% TFA/DCM was, on average, 9% higher than with 100% TFA. The major impurity obtained during synthesis when 100% TFA was used for Boc removal corresponded to the omission of the second amino-acid residue added. Volumetric measurements of the swelling of the resin in the different deprotection solvents were carried out. These showed that the omission analogs generated are probably due to insufficient swelling of the resin, resulting in limited solvent transfer of 100% TFA into the resin and, in turn, incomplete Boc removal.
3. New TFA-free cleavage and final deprotection in fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis: dilute HCl in fluoro alcohol
Pasquale Palladino, Dmitry A Stetsenko Org Lett. 2012 Dec 21;14(24):6346-9. doi: 10.1021/ol303124r. Epub 2012 Dec 4.
A novel method for cleaving from resin and removing acid-labile protecting groups for the Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis is described. 0.1 N HCl in hexafluoroisopropanol or trifluoroethanol cleanly and rapidly removes the tert-butyl ester and ether, Boc, trityl, and Pbf groups and cleaves the common resin linkers: Wang, HMPA, Rink amide, and PAL. Addition of just 5-10% of a hydrogen-bonding solvent considerably retards or even fully inhibits the reaction. However, a non-hydrogen-bonding solvent is tolerated.