Question

Chemical synthesis of peptides by the Merrifield method:_______.

a. has a practical upper limit of a polymer of about 500 amino acid residues.
b. involves synthesizing the peptide and then attaching it to a solid support.
c. is nearly as efficient as peptide bond synthesis in biochemical systems.
d. proceeds from the carboxyl terminus to the amino terminus.

Answer 1

b. involves synthesizing the peptide and then attaching it to a solid support

the amino acid is reacted with a molecule known as a "linkage agent" that enables it to attach to a solid polymer, and the other end of the linkage agent is reacted with the polymer support (insoluble)