A quantum mechanical study of the intrinsic helix‐forming tendency of α‐aminoisobutyric acid and dehydroalanine residues

A quantum mechanical study to compare the ability of α‐aminoisobutyric acid (Aib), de‐hydroalanine (ΔAla), and alanine (Ala) residues to stabilize helical conformations has been performed. To address the study, the oligopeptides Xn (X = Aib, ΔAla and Ala), where n varies from 1 to 6, were computed with the AM1 semiempirical method. The results show that the residues modified at the Cα carbon atom, Aib and ΔAla, are better helical formers than Ala. Thus, a cooperative energy effect was found for both residues, and especially for ΔAla. These terms permit the understanding the different conformational behaviors between Ala and its Cα‐modified residues Aib and ΔAla. This trend is important for de novo protein design, where Aib and ΔAla must be considered useful residues in the design of synthetic helical motifs.