Abstract: | Abstract: The novel Cα‐tetrasubstituted α‐amino acid Cα‐methyl, Cα‐cyclohexylglycine was prepared by hydrogenation of its Cα‐methyl, Cα‐phenylglycine precursor. Terminally protected homodi‐, homotri‐, and homotetrapeptides from Cα‐methyl, Cα‐cyclohexylglycine and co‐oligopeptides to the pentamer level in combination with Gly or α‐aminoisobutyric acid residues were prepared by solution methods and fully characterized. The results of a conformational analysis, performed by use of Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectrophotomet absorption, 1H NMR, and X‐ray diffraction techniques, support the contention that this Cα‐methylated, Cβ‐trisubstituted aliphatic α‐amino acid is an effective β‐turn and 310‐helix inducer in tri‐ and longer peptides as its Cα‐methyl valine parent compound, but partially divergent from the corresponding aromatic Cα‐methyl, Cα‐diphenylmethylglycine residue, known to promote folded and fully extended structures to a significant extent in these oligomers. |