Protease-catalyzed Synthesis of Bz-Arg-Gly-Asp-OMe in Full Aqueous Medium

Synthesis of N-benzoyl-argininylglycylasparagine methyl ester (Bz-Arg-Gly-Asp-OMe), a precursor tripeptide of Arg-Gly-Asp) was catalyzed by papain under kinetic control, at alkaline pH, in a full aqueous medium. The substrates were N-benzoyl-argininylglycine ethyl ester and asparagine dimethyl ester. An aqueous solution of 0.1 mol/L KCl/NaOH containing 8 mmol/L EDTA and 2 mmol/L DTT was selected as the reaction medium. The synthesized hydrophilic tripeptide was soluble in the reaction medium during the reaction process, however, the secondary hydrolysis of the tripeptide product was not considerable. The effects of different factors, including water content, temperature, reaction time, and molar ratio of the substrates, on the yield of Bz-Arg-Gly-Asp-OMe were examined. The optimal reaction conditions were 0.05 mol/L Bz-Arg-Gly-OEt and 0.15 mol/L Asp(-OMe)2 . HCl in 0.1 mol/L KCl/NaOH solution (pH 8.5), at 40°C, and a reaction time of 60 min, with a maximum conversion yield of 62.4%.