Unnatural / Unusual Amino Acids

Non-natural amino acids are incorporated into peptides for many different reasons. For example, unnatural amino acids are used to increase the activity or selectivity and plasma stability of peptides in drug discovery projects. Another example is the use of non-natural amino acids for the induction or stabilization of secondary structures (helices, sheets, turns).

JPT is proud to offer the custom peptide synthesis of peptides containing a plethora of different unnatural amino acids. Besides commercially available amino acids, we are able to synthesize a wide range of non-commercially available amino acids. Please inquire about your specific peptide sequence to receive a quotation.

Examples for non-natural amino acids that are routinely incorporated at JPT are: D-amino acids, homo amino acids, N-methyl amino acids, alpha-methyl amino acids, beta (homo) amino acids, gamma amino acids, helix/turn stabilizing motifs, backbone modifications (e.g. peptoids).

JPT is also able to incorporate a wide range of unusual amino acids found in nature. Prominent examples are: hydroxyproline (Hyp), beta-alanine, citrulline (Cit), ornithine (Orn), norleucine (Nle), 3-nitrotyrosine, nitroarginine, pyroglutamic acid (Pyr).

The figure shows a graphical presentation of frequently used unnatural amino acids.