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Updated: Sep 13, 2026

Production of Disulfide-stabilized Transmembrane Peptide Complexes for Structural Studies
Published on: March 6, 2013
Cyanamide-Induced Desulfhydration Enables Access to α,β-Dehydropeptides
Yi Yang1, Songyi Xue1, Ryan Moreira1
1Department of Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois61822, United States.
Abstract:
Dehydroamino acids are found in natural products, disease-associated proteins, and are used for the diversification of proteins and peptides. The synthesis of peptide sequences containing dehydroamino acids remains nontrivial and only a few chemical methods allow for their incorporation. We report the conversion of amino acid residues bearing β-thiols into dehydroamino acids through the treatment of unprotected peptides and proteins with cyanamide under mild, fully aqueous conditions that are compatible with commonly used buffer salts.
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