Conformational studies in aqueous solution on random copolymers of L‐glutamic acid and ortho‐nitrobenzyl‐L‐glutamate. Circular dichroism and potentiometric titration studies

Random copolymers of L-glutamic acid and ortho-nitrobenzyl-L-glutamate were synthesized with different percentages of nitrobenzyl-L-glutamate, from 3 to 22%. These copolymers were studied by circular dichroism (CD) and potentiometric titrations in aqueous solutions in order to determine the variation of the stability of the secondary structure when the concentration of nitrobenzylglutamate varies in the copolymer. We observed that the stability increases with the concentration of glutamate. Such a stabilization could be due to either side-chain interactions or interactions between the aromatic side chain with the backbone. An intermolecular aggregation was observed when the percentage of nitrobenzylglutamate was sufficently important, but such an aggregation may be avoided if a dioxane/water mixture is used as a solvent.