Author Description

Peptides have many roles in medicine, and their potential for future application is even greater. They are involved in the regulation of fertility, the control of pain, the stimulation of growth, cancer therapy, cardiovascular problems, connective tissue diseases, digestive disorders, mental illness, and infections by microbial or viral agents. The preparation of such compounds by manipulating biological systems (genetic engineering) is an increasingly sophisticated art, but each case requires developmental work, and the approach is at present almost powerless with structural types that don't occur naturally. Chemical synthesis, on the other hand, is in principle applicable to any target, and is likely to remain very important in the peptide area for the foreseeable future. The emphasis throughout this book is on the chemical principles behind the more important methods of peptide synthesis. It provides a critical, concise, and up-to-date survey of the field. The term peptide is interpreted liberally, as embracing not only conventional sequences of up to a few dozen natural amino acids, but also protein-scale molecules and structures comprising other residues or unusual features, for example, cyclopeptides and conjugated peptides. The synthetic methods considered here are treated within a modern mechanistic framework, and illustrated with carefully selected case studies, and this valuable account will be of interest to all those working in the field of peptide synthesis.