Solid-phase synthesis of peptide-4-nitroanilides

A wide variety of Glu/Asp and Gln containing peptide-4-nitroanilides and other chromogenic peptidyl-arylamides could be quickly synthesized by a Fmoc-based solid-phase synthesis strategy employing the side-chain carboxyl groups for transient anchoring to the resin. Suitable synthons for this method, Fmoc-Glu-NH-Np and Fmoc-Asp-NH-Np, were prepared using a diphenylphosphinic chloride-mediated coupling reaction. Peptides of the common structure Suc-Ala-Phe-Pro-Xaa-NH-Np (Xaa = Glu/Asp, Gln) were synthesized and were shown to be substrates for the protease subtilisin Carlsberg (E.C.3.4.21.14a) and for peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans-isomerases (PPIases E.C. 5.2.1.8.). The method was extended to amino acids possessing a side chain missing an anchor for binding to the matrix. We synthesized Suc-Ala-Phe-Pro-Gln-Phe-NH-Np anchoring the dipeptide derivative Fmoc-Glu-Phe-NH-Np with the carboxyl group to Rink amide resin using standard SPPS procedures. Additionally this procedure allowed us the preparation of peptidyl-arylamides, utilizing the commercial available Fmoc-Glu-OAll as building block. A mixture of pentapeptide-4-nitroanilides with the general sequence Ala-Ala-Xaa-Pro-Gln-NH-Np was synthesized. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used to evaluate the hydrolysis of the peptide mixture by the protease subtilisin Carlsberg. It could be shown that peptides with the hydrophobic amino acids Phe, Tyr, Leu and Val in the varied P3-position were most rapidly cleaved under the chosen conditions. Hydrolysis of the Gln-NH-Np bond in Ala-Ala-Pro-Pro-Gln-NH-Np has not been observed.