Nature Communications (Nov 2021)

Visible-light-mediated catalyst-free synthesis of unnatural α-amino acids and peptide macrocycles

  • Mengran Wang,
  • Chao Wang,
  • Yumei Huo,
  • Xiaobo Dang,
  • Hongxiang Xue,
  • Liangyu Liu,
  • Hongli Chai,
  • Xiuling Xie,
  • Zhixuan Li,
  • Doudou Lu,
  • Zhaoqing Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27086-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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To address the shortcomings in the application of bioactive peptides as drugs, incorporation of unnatural amino acids (UAAs) has been used. Here, the authors report an ionic compound-promoted C-N cleavage of alkyl pyridinium to generate alkyl radicals upon excitation by visible light, and apply it for deaminative hydroalkylation of alkenes to synthesise diverse β-alkyl substituted UAAs.