Total chemical synthesis of deglycosylated human erythropoietin

For the first time the total chemical synthesis of deglycosylated human ery thropoietin is described. Synthesis of this 166 amino acid protein, molecul ar weight 18 389 daltons, was achieved by automated synthesis on the solid phase by stepwise elongation with fluoren-9-ylmethoxycarbonyl amino acids. A novel coupling reagent ethyl 1-hydroxy-(1H)1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylate i n conjunction with diisopropylcarbodiimide was employed for carboxy activat ion and tetrabenzo[a, c,g,i]fluoren-17-ylmethoxycarbonyl, a hydrophobic, ch romatographic probe which has an affinity for charcoal, aided the purificat ion immensely.