A new total synthesis of the tetratriacontapeptide amide corresponding to the proposed primary structure of human big gastrin I is described. The synthetic route was based on the preparation of six suitably protected fragments, related to sequence 28 - 34, 23 - 27, 21 - 22, 15-20, 9 - 14, and 1 - 8, to be used as building blocks for the total synthesis. The protecting groups were selected according to the Schwyzer-Wünsch strategy of maximum side chain protection based on tertiary alcohols, also for the imidazol function of histidine. Subsequent assembly of the six fragments by three different pathways using the highly efficient Wünsch-Weygand condensation procedure to ensure minimum racemization, followed by deprotection of the synthetic products via exposure to trifluoroacetic acid and final purification by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-25 and partition chromatography on Sephadex G-25, led to human big gastrin I, homogeneous within the limits of the analytical methods used. The biological activity of the synthetic product proved to be 50 percent higher than that of human little gastrin I. The 32-leucine analogue of human big gastrin I was prepared in the same way.
Non-Enzymatic Desymmetrization Reactions in Aqueous Media
