Crystal and molecular structure of Boc-Phe-Val-OMe; comparison of the peptide conformation with its dehydro analogue

Abstract

The crystal structure of the peptide Boc-Phe-Val-OMe determined by X-ray diffraction methods is reported in this paper. The crystals grown from aqueous methanol are orthorhombic, space group P 2₁2₁ 2₁, a= 11.843(2), b= 21.493(4), c= 26.676(4) A and V= 6790 ų. Data were collected on a CAD4 diffractometer using MoK αradiation (λ= 0.7107 Å) up to Bragg angle θ=26°. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by a least-squares procedure to an R value of 6.8% for 3288 observed reflections. There are three crystal-lographically independent peptide molecules in the asymmetric unit. All the three molecules exhibit extended conformation. The sidechain of the Val² residue shows two different conformations. The conformation of the peptide Boc-Phe-Val-OMe is compared with the conformation of Ac-ΔPhe-Val-OH. It is observed that while Boc-Phe-Val-OMe exhibits an extended conformation, Ac-ΔPhe-Val-OH shows a folded conformation. The results of this comparison highlight the conformation constraining property of the ΔPhe residue. Interestingly, even though Boc-Phe-Val-OMe and Ac-ΔPhe-Val-OH are conformation ally different, they exhibit similar packing patterns in the solid state.