Peptoads, a group of amphiphilic long-chain triamides

Eleven triamides bearing long alkyl chains have been synthesized to produce a new class of amphiphilic compounds (dubbed "peptoad"). The properties of these molecules have been investigated by X-ray analysis, solubility studies, light and electron microscopy, surface tensiometry, light scattering, drug dissolution, and molecular dynamics. In the solid state, the peptoads assemble in layers with both intra- and interlayer hydrogen bonding coupled to side-by-side proximity of the hydrocarbon chains. Peptoads with a terminal primary amide and a total of three amide NH sites are water-insoluble owing presumably to attractive forces in the solid state. However, peptoads with terminal -CONMe(2) groups and two internal amide NH sites are water-soluble at room temperature. This solubility is critically dependent upon the chain length. For example, a C(7)-chained peptoad is 1600 times more soluble than its C(9) analogue. High concentrations (6-8 M) of C(7) peptoads in water are clear and do not gel. Light microscopy shows long fibers floating in an isotropic liquid. Water-soluble peptoads are highly surface-active, lowering water's surface tension as effectively as a soap with a much longer chain. Surface tension plots show a "critical aggregation concentration", but it is believed from light scattering and molecular dynamics that the aggregates grow continuously as more peptoad is added to the water. In answer to the inevitable (but valid) question, "What possible good are they?", it can be pointed out that a peptoad solubilizes a water-insoluble drug, paclitaxel (Taxol), as efficiently as does Cremophor EL, a commercial excipient widely used with paclitaxel and other nonpolar drugs. Peptoads, being small molecules and consisting of hydrolyzable amide groups, are likely biodegradable and less prone to the hypersensitivity and neurotoxicity found with Cremophor EL.