Journal Article

Tea Bags for Fmoc Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis: An Example of Circular Economy

Luna, Omar, Albericio, Fernando, Gauna, Adriana, Roman, Tanya, Guzmán, Fanny, Álvarez, Claudio, Cárdenas, Constanza, Mercado, Luis, Pareja-Barrueto, Claudia

2021

Overview

Peptide synthesis is an area with a wide field of application, from biomedicine to nanotechnology, that offers the option of simultaneously synthesizing a large number of sequences for the purpose of preliminary screening, which is a powerful tool. Nevertheless, standard protocols generate large volumes of solvent waste. Here, we present a protocol for the multiple Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis in tea bags, where reagent recycling steps are included. Fifty-two peptides with wide amino acid composition and seven to twenty amino acid residues in length were synthesized in less than three weeks. A clustering analysis was performed, grouping the peptides by physicochemical features. Although a relationship between the overall yield and the physicochemical features of the sequences was not established, the process showed good performance despite sequence diversity. The recycling system allowed to reduce N, N-dimethylformamide usage by 25–30% and reduce the deprotection reagent usage by 50%. This protocol has been optimized for the simultaneous synthesis of a large number of peptide sequences. Additionally, a reagent recycling system was included in the procedure, which turns the process into a framework of circular economy, without affecting the quality of the products obtained.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Amino Acid Sequence / Amino acids / Amino Acids - chemistry / Documentation / Fluorenes - chemistry / green chemistry / Labeling / Laboratories / Organic chemicals / Peptides / Peptides - chemical synthesis / Peptides - chemistry / Polyethylene / Reagents / reagents’ recycling / simultaneous synthesis / Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques - methods / Solvents / Tea - chemistry