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Gerald A Metselaar

Publications and source records attributed to Gerald A Metselaar.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Polyisocyanides derived from tripeptides of alanine.

Helical polymers of isocyanotripeptides derived from alanine have been synthesized and their architectures studied in detail. The helical conformation of the polyisocyanotripeptides is stabilized by internal hydrogen-bonding arrays between the tripeptide side chains. The possibility of extending the well-defined hydrogen-bonded array, from dipeptide to tripeptide side chains, depends strongly on the stereochemistry of the constituent alanine amino acids, as has been shown by circular dichroism and IR studies. In polymers containing a weaker hydrogen-bonding array adjacent to the polymer backbone, due to steric interactions between the alanine methyl groups, a stronger second hydrogen-bonding array was present between the peptide bonds furthest away from the main chain, which is probably a result of stretching/compression of the helical-polymer conformation.

Alanine↗

Synthesis, characterization, and folding behavior of beta-amino acid derived polyisocyanides.

Helical polymers of isocyanopeptides derived from beta-amino acids have been synthesized and their architectures have been studied in detail. Similar to their alpha-amino acid analogues, the helical conformation in these macromolecules is stabilized by internal hydrogen-bonding arrays along the polymeric backbone. Unexpectedly, the flexibility of the beta-peptide side arms results in a rearrangement of the initial macromolecular architecture, leading to a more stable helical structure possessing a better defined hydrogen-bonding pattern, as was concluded from IR and temperature-dependent circular dichroism studies. Based on these results we propose a dynamic helical model for the beta-amino acid derived polyisocyanopeptides; this model is in contrast to the kinetically stable helical macromolecules that are formed upon polymerization of alpha-amino acid based isocyanopeptides.

Amino Acid Sequence↗