Heating Reactions of N-t-Butyloxycarbonyl-Asparagine and Related Compounds

N-t-Butyloxycarbonyl-amino acids (Boc-) are labile on heating to afford free amino acids, but Boc-aspartic acid gives a kind of polypeptide.This chemical feature of Boc-aspartic acid may be caused by dehydration between two carboxyl groups as well as the formation of a free amino group.Boc-Asparagine may have a similar reactivity to Boc-aspartic acid.This research describes polypeptide formation by heating Boc-asparagine and its isomer Boc-aspartic acid amide.