The optically active 3-ferrocenylalanine and its application in peptide chemistry

Racemic 3-ferrocenylalanine was resolved in enantiomers using brucine. The absolute configuration was estimated by ozonolytic degradation of the N-trifluoroacetyl derivative of the (-)-enantiomer yielding D-aspartic acid. Diastereoisomeric cyclo(D-ferrocenylalanyl-L-prolyl) and cyclo-(L-3-ferrocenylalanyl-L-prolyl) were synthesized using conventional methods of peptide synthesis. Circular dichroism spectra of these cyclodipeptides are discussed and compared with spectra of the corresponding diastereoisomeric cyclodipeptides containing phenylalanine.