Syntheses and properties of tertiary peptide bond‐containing polypeptides.

Abstract
Oligo(Leu)s containing Pro or (Dmob) Leu residues were prepared by the stepwise elongation and fragment condensation methods. The peptides prepared were the following: Boc‐Leun‐OBzl (n = 3–6 and 9), Boc‐Pro‐Leu3‐OBzl, Boc‐Leun‐Pro‐OBzl (n = 3–5), Boc‐Leun‐Pro‐Leu3‐OBzl (n = 3 and 4), Boc‐(Leu4‐Pro)2‐OBzl, Boc‐Leu3‐Pro‐Leun‐Pro‐Leu3‐OBzl (n = 6 and 7), Boc‐Leu3‐Gly‐(Dmob) Leu‐OMe, Boc‐[Leu3‐Gly‐(Dmob) Leu‐Leu3]n‐OBzl (n = 1 and 2). The insertion of the Pro and Gly‐(Dmob) Leu residues into a peptide chain caused “the peptide segment separation” and achieved remarkable solubility improvement of N‐ and C‐protected oligo(Leu) derivatives in a variety of organic solvents. The conformations of typical peptides in the solid state and in DMSO were also investigated using i.r. spectroscopy. The incorporation of tertiary peptide bonds in a central position of the β‐sheet structure induces the onset of an unordered structure in the solid state. In DMSO, peptides are efficiently subjected to solvation to have the unordered structure.