1. Photomodulation of conformational states. Synthesis of cyclic peptides with backbone-azobenzene moieties
R Behrendt, M Schenk, H J Musiol, L Moroder J Pept Sci. 1999 Nov;5(11):519-29. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1387(199911)5:113.0.CO;2-3.
The search for photoresponsive conformational transitions accompanied by changes in physicochemical and biological properties led us to the design of small cyclic peptides containing azobenzene moieties in the backbone. For this purpose, (4-aminomethyl)phenylazobenzoic acid (H-AMPB-OH) and (4-amino)phenylazobenzoic acid (H-APB-OH) were synthesized and used to cyclize a bis-cysteinyl-octapeptide giving monocyclic derivatives in which additional conformational restriction could be introduced by conversion to bicyclic structures with a disulphide bridge. While synthesis with H-AMPB-OH proceeded smoothly on a chlorotrityl-resin with Fmoc/tBu chemistry, the poor nucleophilicity of the arylamino group of H-APB-OH required special chemistry for satisfactory incorporation into the peptide chain. Additional difficulties were encountered in the reductive cleavage of the S-tert-butylthio group from the cysteine residues since concomitant reduction of the azobenzene moiety took place at competing rates. This difficulty was eventually bypassed by using the S-trityl protection. Side-chain cyclization of the APB-peptide proved to be difficult, suggesting that restricted conformational freedom was already present in the monocyclic form, a fact that was fully confirmed by NMR structural analysis. Conversely, the methylene spacer in the AMPB moiety introduced sufficient flexibility for facile and quantitative side-chain cyclization to the bicyclic form. Both of the monocyclic peptides and both of the bicyclic peptides are photoresponsive molecules which undergo cis/trans isomerization reversibly.
2. Trimethoxyphenylthio as a highly labile replacement for tert-butylthio cysteine protection in Fmoc solid phase synthesis
Tobias M Postma, Matthieu Giraud, Fernando Albericio Org Lett. 2012 Nov 2;14(21):5468-71. doi: 10.1021/ol3025499. Epub 2012 Oct 17.
Trimethoxyphenylthio (S-Tmp) is described as a novel cysteine protecting group in Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis replacing the difficult to remove tert-butylthio. S-Tmp and dimethoxyphenylthio (S-Dmp) were successfully used for cysteine protection in a variety of peptides. Moreover, both groups can be removed in 5 min with mild reducing agents. S-Tmp is recommended for cysteine protection, as it yields crude peptides of high purity.
