Abstract

It has been recently reported that thiol groups could play an important role in the protection of neuronal cells in Alzheimers disease (AD), prion disease (CJD) and Parkinsons disease (PD). Also bucillamine, that is a pseudo dipeptide possessing a thiol group capable to form an internal disulfide bridge, has relevant scavenger properties used in therapy for the treatment of arthritis. Furthermore, many sulphur containing compounds show strong chelating properties to heavy metals. Due to the crucial role of thiol groups in a variety of detoxicant biological systems, we report the synthesis of a racemic β,β-dialkyl-substituted, fully protected, cysteine derivative as a suitable intermediate in the synthesis of novel biological active peptides.

Keywords: Peptides, peptidomimetic, cysteine, thiols, β,β—dialkyl-amino acids, χ-space