Stable and Low cost Peptides; Improved Synthesis of Natural and Synthetic Amino Acids

This one step reaction to amino acids and their derivatives uses inexpensive starting material. It can be used for developing simple synthetic routes to inexpensive natural and synthetic proteins for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and research needs. Synthetic derivatives retain activity, while protecting the peptides from damaging enzymes.

The key to this technology is the generation of amphoteric intermediates that enable one pot synthesis of amino acid analogues that previously required longer, labor-intensive, synthetic routes. The simple exchange chemistry has potential for manufacturers and researchers requiring easy access to new and existing biomolecules in order to engineer stable and selective biologically active molecules for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

Synthetic peptides have high therapeutic potential, with several compounds currently undergoing clinical development. This technology increases access to such compounds and offers the following possibilities:

• Low cost synthetic amino acids containing NN(C)O motifs - (azapeptide and azapeptoids)

• Highly Stable new peptidomimetics by developing hybrid peptides incorporating both natural () and unnatural (, ,  aza) amino acids

• Automatable methods enabling widespread availability of promising azapeptides, which, without a chiral centre, make ideal candidates for use in synthetic peptides.

• New routes to hydantoins and hydrouracil for the agrochemical industry are being developed.