Enantioselective epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones catalyzed by stapled helical l-Leu-based peptides

Stapled helical l-leucine-based heptapeptides were synthesized and used as catalysts for the enantioselective epoxidation of α,β-unsaturated ketones. All N-terminal free stapled peptides were successfully used as chiral catalysts. Among them, the use of H-hS3,7hS-10 gave epoxide products with high enantioselectivities of up to 99% ee. Furthermore, the dominant conformations of the N-terminal protected stapled peptides R3,7R-10 and hS3,7hS-10 were investigated by 1H NMR, IR, CD spectra, and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The peptide R3,7R-10 formed a right-handed (P) α-helix in solution and in the crystalline state, while hS3,7hS-10 formed a right-handed (P) 310-helix in solution.