D-Leucine

Technical Specifications

Product Description & Scientific Applications

D-Leucine (D-α-aminoisocaproic acid) is a branched-chain D-amino acid used as a chiral building block in research peptide synthesis and as a substrate in D-amino-acid metabolism and oxidase-assay studies. The compound is supplied as a white crystalline powder, moderately soluble in water and soluble in dilute acids. Fmoc-, Boc-, Cbz-, and N-acetyl-D-leucine derivatives are widely used when protected D-leucine residues are required for peptide or small-molecule synthesis.

Applications:

• D-peptide synthesis: Incorporated into research peptides as a hydrophobic branched-chain D-residue to increase resistance to proteolysis and alter stereochemical recognition. Useful in mirror-image peptide design, all-D peptide libraries, and proteolytically stable analogues of natural sequences used in receptor-recognition, membrane-interaction, and structure–activity studies.
• D-amino acid oxidase and D-amino-acid metabolism studies: Used as a neutral hydrophobic D-amino-acid substrate in assays of D-amino acid oxidase and related D-amino-acid-metabolising enzymes. DAAO catalyses oxidative deamination of many neutral D-amino acids to the corresponding imino/keto acids with production of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, making D-leucine useful in substrate-specificity, enzyme-engineering, and analytical oxidase-assay workflows.
• Biofilm and bacterial cell-wall research: Used in microbial-community studies investigating D-amino-acid-triggered biofilm inhibition and disassembly. D-leucine is one of the D-amino acids reported in biofilm-disassembly mixtures that affect bacterial matrix stability and release amyloid fibres linking cells in the biofilm, with documented effects in Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• Chiral separation and enantiomeric analysis reference: Employed as a D-amino-acid standard in HPLC, ligand-exchange chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis methods developed for separation, detection, and quantification of D- and L-amino acid enantiomers in biological, food, fermentation, and analytical quality-control samples.
• Chiral-pool and peptidomimetic synthesis: Used as a stereochemically defined branched-chain amino acid for preparing protected D-leucine derivatives, peptidomimetics, and chiral small-molecule intermediates where the D-configuration and hydrophobic isobutyl side chain are used to tune conformation, solubility, and molecular recognition.

Shipping Destinations

• EU & UK: Priority delivery, 2–5 business days.
• United States (DDP): 3–7 business days, duties and taxes prepaid.
• EFTA Countries (DDP): 3–7 business days, duties and taxes prepaid.
• Worldwide: 7–14 business days, selected locations.