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

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 Å3. 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