Copper(ii) mediated facile and ultra fast peptide synthesis in methanol

Abstract

A novel, ultrafast, mild and scalable amide bond formation strategy in methanol using simple thioacids and amines is described. The mechanism suggests that the coupling reactions are initially mediated by CuSO4·5H2O and subsequently catalyzed by in situ generated copper sulfide. The pure peptides were isolated in satisfactory yields in less than 5 minutes.