Rapid Multistep Synthesis of a Bioactive Peptidomimetic Oligomer for the Undergraduate Laboratory

Abstract

Peptidomimetic compounds are increasingly important in drug-discovery applications. We introduce the synthesis of an N-substituted glycine oligomer, a bioactive “peptoid” trimer. The six-step protocol is conducted on solid-phase resin, enabling the synthesis to be performed by undergraduate organic chemistry students. This synthesis lab was successfully completed within one 4-h session by second-year students. The procedures are relatively inexpensive and versatile, enabling modifications to generate a variety of oligomer sequences from commercially available reagents including bromoacetic acid and a diverse set of primary amines.