Examination of the Potential for Adaptive Chirality of the Nitrogen Chiral Center in Aza-Aspartame
作者:Samir Bouayad-Gervais、William Lubell
DOI:10.3390/molecules181214739
日期:——
The potential for dynamic chirality of an azapeptide nitrogen was examined by substitution of nitrogen for the α-carbon of the aspartate residue in the sweetener S,S-aspartame. Considering that S,S- and R,S-aspartame possess sweet and bitter tastes, respectively, a bitter-sweet taste of aza-aspartame 9 could be indicative of a low isomerization barrier for nitrogen chirality inter-conversion. Aza-aspartame 9 was synthesized by a combination of hydrazine and peptide chemistry. Crystallization of 9 indicated a R,S-configuration in the solid state; however, the aza-residue chiral center was considerably flattened relative to its natural amino acid counterpart. On tasting, the authors considered aza-aspartame 9 to be slightly bitter or tasteless. The lack of bitter sweet taste of aza-aspartame 9 may be due to flattening from sp2 hybridization in the urea as well as a high barrier for sp3 nitrogen inter-conversion, both of which may interfere with recognition by taste receptors.
探讨了氮原子的动态手性可能性,方法是用氮替代甜味剂S,S-天冬氨酸残基的α-碳。考虑到S,S-和R,S-天冬氨酸分别具有甜味和苦味,氮原子手性相互转化的低异构化障碍可能使得氮-天冬氨酸9具有苦甜味。氮-天冬氨酸9通过氢肼和肽化学的结合合成。9的结晶结果表明在固态下呈现R,S-构型;然而,相较于其天然氨基酸对应物,氮残基的手性中心明显扁平化。在品尝时,作者认为氮-天冬氨酸9略微苦或无味。氮-天冬氨酸9缺乏苦甜味可能是由于脲中sp²杂化导致的扁平化,以及sp³氮转换的高障碍,这两者可能干扰味觉受体的识别。