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Solid-phase peptide synthesis: from standard procedures to the synthesis of difficult sequences

Nature Protocols volume 2, pages 3247–3256 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

This protocol for solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) is based on the widely used Fmoc/tBu strategy, activation of the carboxyl groups by aminium-derived coupling reagents and use of PEG-modified polystyrene resins. A standard protocol is described, which was successfully applied in our lab for the synthesis of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), >400 CRF analogs and a countless number of other peptides. The 41-mer peptide CRF is obtained within ∼80 working hours. To achieve the so-called difficult sequences, special techniques have to be applied in order to reduce aggregation of the growing peptide chain, which is the main cause of failure for peptide chemosynthesis. Exemplary application of depsipeptide and pseudoproline units is shown for synthesizing an extremely difficult sequence, the Asn(15) analog of the WW domain FBP28, which is impossible to obtain using the standard protocol.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Special units used during assembly to prevent peptide chain aggregation.
Figure 3: Diketopiperazine (DKP) formation promoted by piperidine during Fmoc removal.
Figure 4: Depsipeptides are converted into the all-amide form through an O,N-acyl shift, which occurs quantitatively under mildly basic conditions over a short period.
Figure 5: Base-catalyzed aspartimide formation on an OtBu-protected aspartic acid residue and subsequent aminolysis by piperidine, yielding the corresponding piperidide; in dimethyl formamide (DMF) the β-piperidide may preferably be formed.
Figure 6
Figure 7: HPLC profiles of the crude N(15)FBP28WW.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge contributions of S. Tremmel, E. Krause, C.D. Sferdean and L.A. Carpino. We thank A. Klose and D. Krause for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, grant no. FOR 299/2-2 TP2 and Be 1434/5-2.

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  1. Department of Peptide Chemistry and Biochemistry, Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, Berlin, 13125, Germany

    Irene Coin, Michael Beyermann & Michael Bienert

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Correspondence to Irene Coin or Michael Beyermann.

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Coin, I., Beyermann, M. & Bienert, M. Solid-phase peptide synthesis: from standard procedures to the synthesis of difficult sequences. Nat Protoc 2, 3247–3256 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.454

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