Chemical deuteration of mono- and di-amino acids for the development of new biopolymer materials

柴崎 千枝; 阿久津 和宏*; 上田 実咲*; 高田 慎一  ; 安達 基泰*

Shibazaki, Chie; Akutsu, Kazuhiro*; Ueda, Misaki*; Takata, Shinichi; Adachi, Motoyasu*

Amino acids play a crucial role in physiological functions such as metabolism and immunity. Deuterated amino acids, in which some hydrogen atoms (H) are replaced with deuterium (D), are used to elucidate enzyme reaction mechanisms and analyze protein structures. Additionally, because the C-D bond in deuterated compounds is stronger than the C-H bond, deuteration enhances chemical stability. Investigating the properties of deuterated polymers, which have not been thoroughly studied, could lead to the development of new materials. We believe that developing deuteration techniques for amino acids and oligopeptides using metal catalysts at high temperatures can result in the creation of novel functional molecules.