THE PHOTOPHYSICAL PROBE, 7-AZATRYPTOPHAN, IN SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES

7-Azatryptophan is proposed as an alternative to tryptophan as a photo physical probe in the study of protein structure and dynamics. Not onl y are the spectral characteristics of 7-azatryptophan easily distingui shable from those of tryptophan, but this nonnatural amino acid is sho wn to be amenable to incorporation into peptides. We present the first synthesis and purification of a synthetic peptide containing 7-azatry ptophan, NAc-Pro-7-aza-tryptophan-Asn-NH2, which is shown to be a comp etitive inhibitor of alpha-chymotrysin.