Collection of Czechoslovak Chemical Communications - digital archive 

Abstract

Alternating poly(Leu-Lys) and its isopolypeptide poly(Leu-Lys-Lys-Leu) were synthesized via polycondensation of p-nitrophenyl esters of the corresponding protected peptides. Addition of one equivalent of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole and varying amounts of a tertiary base allowed to control the molecular weights of the samples. The conformation of the water soluble polypeptides was investigated by circular dichroism. Poly(Leu-Lys) adopts a β-sheet conformation in the presence of salt while poly(Leu-Lys-Lys-Leu) adopts an α-helical conformation. For polypeptides based on a 1 : 1 composition of hydrophobic (A) and hydrophilic (B) residues, the shortest repeat for the formation of a β-sheet is -AB- whereas -AABB- represents the shortest repeat for an α-helix formation.