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Chiral secondary amino acids, their importance, and methods of analysis

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Abstract

Naturally occurring secondary amino acids, with proline as the main representative, contain an alpha-imino group in a cycle that is typically four-, five-, and six-membered. The unique ring structure exhibits exceptional properties—conformational rigidity, chemical stability, and specific roles in protein structure and folding. Many proline analogues have been used as valuable compounds for the study of metabolism of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and for the synthesis of compounds with desired biological, pharmaceutical, or industrial properties. The d-forms of secondary amino acids play different roles in living organisms than the l-forms. They have different metabolic pathways, biological, physiological, and pharmacological effects, they can be indicators of changes and also serve as biomarkers of diseases. In the scientific literature, the number of articles examining d-amino acids in biological samples is increasing. The review summarises information on the occurrence and importance of d- and l-secondary amino acids—azetidic acid, proline, hydroxyprolines, pipecolic, nipecotic, hydroxypipecolic acids and related peptides containing these d-AAs, as well as the main analytical methods (mostly chromatographic) used for their enantiomeric determination in different matrices (biological samples, plants, food, water, and soil).

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Abbreviations

2D-PC:

Two-dimensional paper chromatography

2D-HPLC:

Two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography

3c-L-Hyp:

cis-3-Hydroxy-l-proline, ((2S,3R)-3-Hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3t-L-Hyp:

trans-3-Hydroxy-l-proline, ((2S,3S)-3-Hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3c-D-Hyp:

cis-3-Hydroxy-d- proline ((2R,3S)-3-hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3t-D-Hyp:

trans-3-Hydroxy-d- proline ((2R,3R)-3-hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4c-L-Hyp:

cis-4-Hydroxy-l- proline ((2S,4S)-4-Hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4t-L-Hyp:

trans-4-Hydroxy-l- proline ((2S,4R)-4-hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4c-D-Hyp:

cis-4-Hydroxy-d- proline ((2R,4R)-4-Hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4t-D-Hyp:

trans-4-Hydroxy-d- proline ((2R,4S)-4-Hydroxypyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3c-L-HyPip:

cis-3-Hydroxy-l-pipecolic acid ((2S, 3R)-3-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3t-L-HyPip:

trans-3-Hydroxy-l- pipecolic acid ((2S,3S)-3-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3c-D-HyPip:

cis-3-Hydroxy-d- pipecolic acid ((2R, 3S)-3-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

3t-D-HyPip:

trans-3-Hydroxy-d- pipecolic acid ((2R, 3R)-3-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic

4c-L-HyPip:

cis-4-Hydroxy-l- pipecolic acid ((2S,4R)-4-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4t-L-HyPip:

trans-4-Hydroxy-l- pipecolic acid ((2S,4S)-4-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4c-D-HyPip:

cis-4-Hydroxy-d- pipecolic acid ((2R,4S)-4-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

4t-D-HyPip:

trans-4-Hydroxy-d- pipecolic acid ((2R,4R)-4-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

5c-L-HyPip:

cis-5-Hydroxy-l- pipecolic acid ((2S,5S)-5-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

5t-L-HyPip:

trans-5-Hydroxy-l- pipecolic acid ((2S,5R)-5-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid)

AA(s):

Amino acid(s)

AcCl:

Acetyl chloride

AQC:

6-Aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate

AMBI:

1-Phenylethylisothiocyanate, alpha-Methylbenzyl isothiocyanate

BSTFA:

N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide

CLEC:

Chiral ligand-exchange chromatography

CSP:

Chiral stationary phase

DAD:

Diode array detector

DCl:

: Deuterium chloride

ddY/DAO:

Mutant strain lacking d-Amino acid oxidase activity

diHyPip:

Dihydroxy pipecolic acid

DMT-(S)-Pro-OSu:

(S)-2,5-Dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl-1-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate

D-Aze:

d-Azetidic acid, d-Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, ((2R)-Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid)

L-Aze:

l- Azetidic acid, l-Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, ((2S)-Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid)

D-Nip:

d-Nipecotic acid, ((3R)-Piperidine-3-carboxylic acid)

L-Nip:

l- Nipecotic acid, ((3S)-Piperidine-3-carboxylic acid)

D-Pip:

d-Pipecolic acid, ((2R)-Piperidine-2-carboxylic acid, d-Homoproline)

L-Pip:

l- Pipecolic acid, ((2S)-Piperidine-2-carboxylic acid, l-Homoproline)

D-Pro:

d- Proline, ((2R)-Pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

L-Pro:

l- Proline, ((2S)-Pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid)

EC:

Enzyme Commission number

EtOD:

Ethanol-OD

FDAA:

Marfey’s reagent, 1-Fluoro-2,4-dinitrophenyl-5-l-alanine amide

FDVA:

Nα -(2,4-dinitro-5-fluorophenyl)-d or l-valine amide

FDLA:

Nα -(2,4-dinitro-5-fluorophenyl)-d or l-leucine amide

FITC:

Fluorescein isothiocyanate

FoPip4H:

l-Pip trans-4-hydroxylase of Fusarium oxysporum

FLEC:

1-(9-Fluorenyl)ethyl chloroformate

FMOC-Cl:

9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride, 9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate

GABA:

γ-Amino butyric acid

GC/FID:

Gas chromatography with flame ionization detector

GC/MS:

Gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detector

GITC:

2,3,4,6-Tetra-O-acetyl-β -d-glucopyranosyl isothiocyanate

HFBCF:

2,2,3,3,4,4,4-Heptafluorobutyl chloroformate

Hyp(s):

Hydroxyproline (s)

HyPip(s):

Hydroxypipecolic acid (s)

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

HPLC/DAD:

HPLC with diode array detector

HPLC/Fl:

HPLC with fluorescence detector

HPLC/UV:

HPLC with UV detector

IBDC:

N-Isobutyryl-d-cysteine

IBLC:

N-Isobutyryl-l-cysteine

IRMPD:

Infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy

HPLC/MS:

Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

HPLC/MSMS:

Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

MSTFA:

N-Methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide

NBD-F:

4-Fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole

NBD-PyNCS:

4-(3-Isothiocyanatopyrrolidin-1-yl)-7-nitrobenzofurazan

N-HyPip:

N-Hydroxypipecolic acid, 1-Hydroxypiperidine-2-carboxylic acid

NIFE:

N-(4-Nitrophenoxycarbonyl)-l-phenylalanine-2-methoxyethyl ester

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

OPA:

o-Phthaldialdehyde

PFPA:

Pentafluoropropionic anhydride

P5C:

Pyrroline-5-carboxylate

PCA:

Pyroglutamic acid

R(-)-DBD-PyNCS:

R(-)-4-(3-Isothiocyanatopyrrolidin-1-yl)-7-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-2,1,3-bezoxadiazole

S( +)-DBD-PyNCS:

S( +)-4-(3-Isothiocyanatopyrrolidin-1-yl)-7-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-2,1,3-bezoxadiazole

SFC/MS:

Supercritical fluid chromatography–mass spectrometry

SPE:

Solid phase extraction

TFA:

Trifluoroacetic anhydride

TLC:

Thin-layer chromatography

UPLC:

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the ERDF Fund, the Interreg project No. BYCZ118.

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HZ, SO, and MM prepared the manuscript. LŘ and PŠ conducted an internal review procedure. All authors approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Moos.

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The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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No human or animal samples were used for this study. For this reason, no informed consent was obtained from individual participants.

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Handling editor: N. Vanthuyne.

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Zahradníčková, H., Opekar, S., Řimnáčová, L. et al. Chiral secondary amino acids, their importance, and methods of analysis. Amino Acids 54, 687–719 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-022-03136-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-022-03136-6

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