Oxyma-B, an excellent racemization suppressor for peptide synthesis

Abstract

Peptide-bond formation is a key process in the synthesis of peptide oligomers. Among the many coupling techniques reported, carbodiimides combine strong acylation potency and smooth reaction conditions and are commonly used in the presence of additives. Recently, ethyl 2-cyano-2-(hydroxyimino)acetate (OxymaPure) has emerged as a highly reactive alternative to the classic and explosion-prone benzotriazolic additives, namely 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) and 1-hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole (HOAt). Here we report on a new oxime additive 5-(hydroxyimino)-1,3-dimethylpyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (Oxyma-B). This new additive showed satisfactory solubility in various solvents (DMF, ACN, and THF). It was also more effective in the control of optical purity during the synthesis of Z-Phg-Pro-NH₂, Z-Phe-Val-Pro-NH₂, H-Gly-Ser-Phe-NH₂, H-Gly-Cys-Phe-NH₂, H-Gly-Cys(Acm)-Phe-NH₂ and H-Gly-His-Phe-NH₂ than related Oxyma- and benzotriazole-based reagents. Oxyma-B also proved to be advantageous compared to the related HONM, because the latter cannot be used with the carbodiimide. Furthermore, Oxyma-B showed satisfactory performance in assembling demanding sequences such as the Aib-enkephalin pentapeptide (H-Tyr-Aib-Aib-Phe-Leu-NH₂).