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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > April  >
In the Laboratory
The Microscale Laboratory
Complete Analysis of a Biologically Active Tetrapeptide: A Project Utilizing Thin-Layer Chromatography and Tandem Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry
Joseph W. LeFevre
Chemistry Department, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126

David W. Dodsworth
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Syracuse, NY 13221-4755

Cover
April 2000
Vol. 77 No. 4
p. 503

Abstract
The biologically active tetrapeptide d-Ala-Gly-l-Phe-d-Leu ([des-Tyr1-d-Ala2-d-Leu5]enkephalin) was analyzed for its amino acid content and stereochemistry by normal and reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and its sequence was determined by tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry. The project involved sequential N-dansylation of a portion of the tetrapeptide, hydrolysis, isolation, and identification of the N-terminal amino acid as dansyl-alanine by comparison with standards using normal-phase TLC. A second portion of the tetrapeptide was hydrolyzed and the resulting four free amino acids were converted to their corresponding dansyl derivatives and purified by preparative normal-phase TLC. The three dansyl amino acids not identified previously were identified by TLC. The stereochemistry of each was determined by comparison with dansyl-dl-amino acid standards using reversed-phase TLC in the presence of ß-cyclodextrin, a chiral mobile phase additive. Finally, the correct amino acid sequence was determined by tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry. This project gives students valuable experience in microscale synthesis, both normal and reversed-phase TLC, stereochemical analysis, and mass spectrometry.
Supplement
Detailed student procedures, questions, and Instructors' Notes are available. The Instructors' Notes include comments on this experiment, tables of TLC retention factors (Rf values), MS/MS fragmentation pattern data, answers to questions, equipment and reagent lists, detailed procedures for preparing reagents, and hazard alerts.
*  Contents
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More Information
*  Citation
LeFevre, Joseph W. ; Dodsworth, David W. J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 503.
*  Keywords
Laboratory Instruction; Organic Chemistry; Biochemistry; Proteins / Peptides; Amino Acids; Stereochemistry; Mass Spectrometry; Microscale
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
March 2, 2000
August 31, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > April  > Page 503


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