Cyanamide-Induced Desulfhydration Enables Access to α,β-Dehydropeptides.

Dehydroamino acids are found in natural products, disease-associated proteins, and are used for the diversification of proteins and peptides. The synthesis of peptide sequences containing dehydroamino acids remains nontrivial and only a few chemical methods allow for their incorporation. We report the conversion of amino acid residues bearing β-thiols into dehydroamino acids through the treatment of unprotected peptides and proteins with cyanamide under mild, fully aqueous conditions that are compatible with commonly used buffer salts.