O-17-NMR AND N-14-NMR STUDIES OF LEU-ENKEPHALIN AND ENKEPHALIN-RELATED FRAGMENTS IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION

17O‐ and 14N‐nmr chemical shifts and line widths of the carboxyl and amino terminal groups of Leu‐enkephalin—Tyr‐Gly‐Gly‐Phe‐[17O]Leu‐Oh—and enkephalin‐related fragments—[17O]Leu‐OH, Phe‐[17O]Leu‐OH, Gly‐Phe‐[17O]Leu‐OH, and Gly‐Gly‐Phe‐[17O]Leu‐OH—were measured in aqueous solution over the entire pH range. Enrichment in 17O was achieved by saponification of the corresponding O‐methyl esters. Ionization constants and titration shifts were obtained by nonlinear least‐squares fits to one‐protion titration curves. [17O]Leu‐OH exhibits a profound pH‐dependent solvation change on deprotonation of the carboxyl group, as shown by 17O‐ and 14N‐nmr line widths. In contrast, the peptides studied do not exhibit pH‐dependent conformational (solvation) changes on deprotonation of the carboxyl group, and a head‐to‐tail intramolecular association between the ionic terminal groups should be excluded. It is shown that the peptides do not exhibit isotropic overall molecular motion and that segmental motion rather than fast internal motion influences the effective correlation times at the sites of the carboxyl oxygens and the amino nitrogen. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.