ABSTRACT
The rst synthesis of the free peptide (glycylglycine) was published by Fischer and Fourneau in 1901. However, over the next several decades, progress in peptide synthesis was slow because of the lack of an easily cleaved amino-protecting group in the presence of a peptide bond. The situation was changed by the development of the benzoxycarbonyl (Z) group by Bergmann and Zervas (1932). With the use of this protecting group, du Vigneaud et al. (1954) performed the rst chemical synthesis of a biologically active peptide, oxytocin. This achievement was a crucial milestone in the eld of peptide chemistry and du Vigneaud was awarded the Nobel Prize. Since then, the syntheses of many other biologically active peptides have been elaborated, but these types of peptide syntheses, performed in solution, are highly labor intensive and time consuming.
