Studies on Dehydroalanine Derivatives. III. Formation of Amino Acids from Poly-dehydroalanine

Abstract Reaction of poly-dehydroalanine with various reagents such as potassium carbonate, potassium cyanide, benzyl mercaptane and acetonitrile were studied. In every reaction mixture, alanine, glycine, serine, threonine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and several unknown amino acids were detected. Ultraviolet-radiation resulted in the liberation of greater amounts of glycine. It was observed that considerable amounts of aspartic acid, S-benzyl-cysteine and glutamic acid were formed in reaction mixtures of potassium cyanide, benzyl mercaptane and acetonitrile, respectively.