Papain‐catalyzed synthesis of dipeptides

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Abstract
The cysteine proteinase papain (EC 3.4.22.2) was used to synthesize N‐protected dipeptides in a kinetically controlled reaction starting from N‐benzyloxycarbonyl‐L‐alanine methylester as the carboxyl component. Beside L‐amino acid amides, free L‐amino acids could be successfully applied to yield the corresponding Z‐dipeptides. The yields with free L‐amino acids ranged from 13–80%, obviously depending on the structure of the molecule. The evaluation of the reaction conditions for the synthesis of N‐benzyloxycarbony1‐L‐alanyl‐L‐arginine revealed that a pH of 9.5, a temperature of 25–40°C and 0.5 M L‐arginine were optimal.