Conformational versatility of the Nα‐acylated tripeptide amide tail of oxytocin

The synthesis, physical and analytical characterization, and crystal‐state structural analysis by X‐ray diffraction of three analogues of the Nα‐acylated tripeptide amide tail of oxytocin, each containing a cyclic Cα, α‐ disubstituted glycine at position 2, have been performed. The peptides arc Boc‐L‐Pro‐Ac3c‐Gly‐NH2, Z‐L‐Pro‐Ac5c‐Gly‐NH2 and Z‐L‐Pro‐Ac5c‐Gly‐NH2. While the former is folded in a type‐II β‐turn conformation at the ‐L‐Pro‐Ac3c‐ sequence, the two latter tripeptides form two consecutive (type‐II, type‐I′) β‐turns. The Ac5c‐ and Ac6c‐tripeptides are the first examples of such a highly folded structural combination in a position‐2 analogue of the Nα‐acylated ‐L‐Pro‐L‐Leu‐GIy‐NH2 sequence.