Invention:
Compositions and methods of making involve the use of alternative acids as reactants instead of carboxylic acids, which produce deuterated amino acids, while carboxylic acids can only synthesize alkyl amino acids. Introducing deuterium to amino acids and derivatives improves biologically active compounds and therapeutics. Modification improves properties such as metabolic stability and minimizes racemization in peptide and peptidomimetic therapeutics to enhance performance.
Background:
Existing procedures for production of deuterated amino acids have problems including issues with selectivity, the amount of amino acid deuterated, and the enantiomeric purity of products. There is a need for improved production approaches that will allow manufacturers to better keep up with increasing demand. While little progress has been made in production methods for some time, this invention is not the only new approach vying to supplant existing techniques: methods from the Soloshonok group are being commercially developed, making this a potentially competitive field as more groups attempt to solve these same issues.
Applications:
- Proteomics
- Mass spectrometry
- Nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
- Drug discovery and development
- Metabolic and biosynthetic pathway research
- Protein structure research
Advantages:
- More metabolic stability
- Enhanced performance of therapeutics
- Diverse applications
- Minimizes racemization in drug synthesis
