Abstract: | The PMR spectra of several cyclic and acyclic dipeptide derivatives representing portions of the actinomycin structure have been studied. In the spectra of the acyclic compounds temperature-dependent duplicity resulted from the equilibration of conformers possessing cis and trans peptide bonds. The lanthanide shift reagent Eu(FOD)3 was utilized to distinguish N-methyl groups in the two conformations and observations were made on the steric dependence of the observed shifts. The origin of the wide variation in chemical shift of N-methylvalyl α-protons is discussed in relation to the conformation of actinomycin. |