| Abstract: | Polypeptides derived from L -naphthylalanine and γ-benzyl L -glutamate were prepared. Conformational properties in solution were investigated by circular dichroism (CD) and infrared spectra on the soluble copolymers, and the copolymers were assumed to take the right-handed α-helical conformation. By the addition of trifluoroacetic acid, a transition of side-chain arrangement is induced simultaneously with the conformational transition of the peptide backbone for the copolymer with the highest content of L -naphthylalanine residues. Fluorescence spectra of the copolymers show no excimer emission, which is evidence for the rigid orientation of the side-chain naphthyl groups. The infrared spectrum and x-ray diagram of poly-L -naphthylalanine do not rule out the helical conformation in the solid state. |
