Reaper was synthesized by condensing two peptide segments, one of which was a partially protected peptide thioester, Boc-[Lys(Boc)(20)]-reaper( 1-32)-SCH2CH2CO-beta-Ala-NH2, and the other a peptide which contained an Cys(Acm) residue, H-[Cys(Acm)(49), Lys(Boc)(52,56,59,62)]-reaper(33-65)-OH. The condensation proceeded without loss of the Acm group when silver chloride was used as an activator of thioester moiety, This result indicates that silver chloride is a generally applicable activating reagent to the preparation of polypeptides which contain Cys(Acm) residues. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.