Efficient and directed peptide bond formation in the gas phase via ion/ion reactions.

ABSTRACT: Amide linkages are among the most important chemical bonds in living systems, constituting the connections between amino acids in peptides and proteins. We demonstrate the controlled formation of amide bonds between amino acids or peptides in the gas phase using ion/ion reactions in a mass spectrometer. Individual amino acids or peptides can be prepared as reagents by (i) incorporating gas phase-labile protecting groups to silence otherwise reactive functional groups, such as the N terminus; (ii) converting the carboxyl groups to the active ester of N-hydroxysuccinimide; and (iii) incorporating a charge site. Protonation renders basic sites (nucleophiles) unreactive toward the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester reagents, resulting in sites with the greatest gas phase basicities being, in large par

SUBMITTER: McGee WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3910651 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature