New Deuterated Amino Acid Derivatives

Case ID:
UA23-273
Invention:

Compositions and method of making involve use of alternative acids as reactants instead of carboxylic acids which produces 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, amount of amino acid deuterated, and enantiomeric purity of products. There is a need for improved production approaches that will allow manufacturers to better keep up with increasing demand. While not much 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 into 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

Patent Information:
Contact For More Information:
Garrett Edmunds
Licensing Manager, UAHS-TLA
The University of Arizona
gedmunds@arizona.edu
Lead Inventor(s):
Wei Wang
Yue Dong
Keywords: