Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Organic reactions are carried out on substrates covalently attached to a polymeric resin. Solid-phase synthesis can be better than traditional synthesis because the overall reaction takes place much more quickly, the process can be automated with robots, and synthetic intermediates do not need to be isolated because reagents are washed away during each step.

Resin is the polymeric backbone to which substrates are anchored. Different resins have different properties. For example, polystyrene swells in non-polar solvents, while polyethylene glycol swells in polar and non-polar solvents. Linkers are intermediate structures that attack the resin to the substrate. Different linkers can be used to unmask different functional groups on the substrate.

Protecting groups are fragments that bind to functional groups and block their reactivity. Some are acid-labile protecting groups such as Boc and tert-Bu ester. Some are base labile protecting groups such as Fmoc and Fm ester. Some others are fluoride-labile protecting groups such as Tmsec and Tmse ester. To ensure specific coupling between the required carboxyl and amino groups, the protecting groups should be easy to attach and remove without changing the rest of the peptide.