Synthetic ramoplanin analogues are accessible by effective incorporation of arylglycines in solid-phase peptide synthesis

The threat of antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics requires a continual effort to develop alternative treatments. Arylglycines (or phenylglycines) are one of the signature amino acids found in many natural peptide antibiotics, but their propensity for epimerization in solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) has prevented their use in long peptide sequences. We have now identified an optimized protocol that allows the synthesis of challenging non-ribosomal peptides including precursors of the glycopeptide antibiotics and an analogue of feglymycin (1 analogue, 20%). We have exploited this protocol to synthesize analogues of the peptide antibiotic ramoplanin using native chemical ligation/desulfurization (1 analogue, 6.5%) and head-to-tail macrocyclization in excellent yield (6 analogues, 3–9%), with these compounds extensively characterized by NMR (U-shaped structure) and antimicrobial activity assays (two clinical isolates). This method significantly reduces synthesis time (6–9 days) when compared with total syntheses (2–3 months) and enables drug discovery programs to include arylglycines in structure–activity relationship studies and drug development.