The acid-mediated condensation of acetamide with butanal dimethylacetal and EtSCH2CH(OMe)2, followed by dehydration, was investigated by electronic structure calculations that supported the prediction that the Z-geometry would be favored in the product. The reaction was investigated experimentally using suitably functionalized cysteine building blocks. Some side reactions and optimization of reaction conditions are reported, en route to identifying a mild, inexpensive Lewis acid that achieves a reasonable yield of (Z)-thioenamide 21 with high stereoselectivity.

Prolyl hydroxylation and subsequent glycosylation of the E3SCF ubiquitin ligase subunit Skp1 affects its conformation and its interaction with F-box proteins and, ultimately, O2-sensing in the organism. Taking a reductionist approach to understand the molecular basis for these effects, a series of end-capped Thr-Pro dipeptides was synthesized, tracking the sequential post-translational modifications that occur in the protein. The conformation of the pyrrolidine ring in each compound was gauged via coupling constants (3JHα,Hβ) and the electronegativity of the Cγ-substituents by chemical shifts (13C). The equilibrium between the cis–trans conformations about the central prolyl peptide bond was investigated by integration of signals corresponding to the two species in the 1H NMR spectra over a range of temperatures. These studies revealed an increasing preference for the trans-conformation in the order Pro < Hyp < [α-(1,4)GlcNAc]Hyp. Rates for the forward and reverse reactions, determined by magnetization transfer experiments, demonstrated a reduced rate for the trans-to-cis conversion and a significant increase in the cis-to-trans conversion upon hydroxylation of the proline residue in the dipeptide. NOE experiments suggest that the Thr side chain pushes the sugar away from the pyrrolidine ring. These effects, which depended on the presence of the N-terminal Thr residue, offer a mechanism to explain altered properties of the corresponding full-length proteins.

An efficient, convergent solution phase synthesis of monomer, dimer, trimer and tetramer of the β-l-arabinofuranosylated hydroxyproline (β-l-Araf-Hyp) glycocluster is described. This motif constitutes the carbohydrate-specific epitope of Art v 1, the major allergen of mugwort pollen. While a single monomeric unit was proposed at the outset, poor yields for the seemingly trivial steps of end-capping to replace protecting groups with N-terminal acetamides and C-terminal methyl amides led to the introduction of N-terminal, central and C-terminal β-l-Araf-Hyp building blocks. Dimer 2 was obtained in 60% yield by coupling of two monomers, followed by hydrogenolysis of benzyl ether protecting groups. Trimer 3 was obtained in 35% yield via a [2 + 1] coupling and tetramer 4 in 15% yield via a [2 + 2] fragment condensation. Circular dichroism spectra show that monomer 1 displays no organized structure, whereas compounds 2–4 show a strong negative band at 200 nm and a weak positive band at ∼220 mn, as is characteristic of the polyproline II helix.

(2S,4R)-2-Amino-4-hydroxyadipic acid (Ahad) building block 45 was synthesized in 11 steps and 6.5% overall yield from commercially available materials. Key steps in stereocontrol were an asymmetric conjugate addition employing a proline-based catalyst and a syn-selective intramolecular-conjugate addition of an oxygen nucleophile to an α,β-unsaturated ester. To enable incorporation of α-amino-adipic acid (α-AAA) and Ahad into peptides, a truly orthogonal protecting group scheme was developed, encompassing an allyloxycarbonyl (Alloc) carbamate for Nα, a tert-butyl ester for the δ-COOH, an acetol ester for the α-COOH, and a tert-butyldimethylsilyl ether for the γ-hydroxy group of Ahad.

Previous syntheses of histidinoalanine (HAL) have led to mixtures of regioisomers and/or stereoisomers. For example, opening of N-Cbz-d-serine-β-lactone (6) with Boc-l-His-OMe (5) gave a 2:1 mixture of τ- and π-regioisomers. The sulfamidate 10, derived from N-benzyl-d-serine methyl ester (11), was reacted with Boc-l-His-OMe (5) to give the τ-HAL derivative 17 as a single isomer in 57% yield. A similarly prepared τ-HAL 19, bearing protecting groups that were all hydrogenolytically labile, led to the free bis-amino acid, τ-l-histidinyl-d-alanine (τ-4), as a salt-free standard for amino acid analysis.

Nα-tert-Butoxycarbonyl-l-trans-4-hydroxyproline allyl ester (Boc-Hyp-OAll) was glycosylated with 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-l-arabinose p-cresylthioglycoside in 60% yield with 4:1 β:α stereoselectivity. Deprotection of N- and C-terminii independently gave a prolyl amine and prolyl carboxylate respectively that were coupled under standard conditions with 1-[bis-(dimethylamino)methylene]-1H-1,2,3-triazolo-[4,5,b]-pyridininium hexafluorophosphate 3-oxide (N-HATU) to give the dimer 1 in 46% yield. These results represent the first steps toward the production of homogeneous oligomers to determine the minimal epitope of the Art v 1 allergen.

(±)-Dehydroleucine was prepared and resolved by porcine kidney acylase. Under the conditions of the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation (SAD), employing AD-mix-α, Nα-carbobenzyloxy-(2S)-4,5-dehydroleucine methyl ester (16) gave rise to a 6.5:1.0 mixture of γ-lactones 17, favoring the 4R configuration. Such carbamate-protected α-amino-γ-hydroxylactones are not recommended as intermediates for peptide synthesis, since model studies showed that lactone 13 was unreactive toward amines. Moreover, the lactone ring could not be opened hydrolytically without epimerization at Cα. Nα-Carbobenzyloxy-(2S)-4,5-dehydroleucine (22) was condensed with valine ethyl ester (19) to give dipeptide 23. Treatment of 23 with AD-mix-β, under the SAD conditions, converted the dehydroleucine residue to γ,δ-dihydroxyleucine with 4S configuration, as occurs in alloviroidin (3), a natural product isolated from Amanita suballiacea.