The acyl amidine represented by the 4,5-dihydro-2(3
H)-pyrazinone ring system
2 is isosteric to the vinylogous amideof the 1,2-dihydro-3(6
H)-pyridinone
1, but its assembly fromseparate amine and amide components enables ready incorporation of an amino acid side chain with correct regio- andstereochemistry.
-Strand peptidomimetics incorporatingamino acid analogues based on
2 have recently been shownto be potent, protease-resistant ligands to a PDZ protein-interaction domain. Two routes to the protected dipeptideanalogue
3 are described.