Facile Synthetic Route to Ascorbic Acid-Dipeptide Conjugate via N-Terminal Activation of Peptide on Resin Support

A solid-phase synthetic approach is reported for the synthesis of an ascorbic acid (ASA)-dipeptide conjugate that exhibited enhanced antioxidant activity. The N-terminal amino group of dipeptide (Ala-Ala) on a resin support was first activated by 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI), and then reacted with an ASA derivative. The addition of a base, triethylamine (TEA), promoted nucleophilic acylation of ASA derivative and yielded a desired product (ASA-Ala-Ala) with enhanced purity, when cleaved from the resin. Compared to the approach where a C3 hydroxyl group of ASA was first activated with CDI and then reacted with the amino group of dipeptide on the resin, this new approach allowed a significant reduction of a total reaction time from 120 h to 8 h at $25^{\circ}C$. As-prepared ASA-dipeptide conjugate (ASA-Ala-Ala) showed improved antioxidant activity compared to ASA.