Strategies for peptide synthesis.

The peptide chemists are facing formidable challenges borne by a continually increasing interest in the pharmaceutical uses of peptides. The successful realization of such challenges depends upon the development of technologies which allow multistage synthesis, purification, and characterization of complicated biologically active peptides. A number of peptide synthesis methods have evolved over the years. These methods can be categorized as chemical synthesis, enzymatic synthesis, biological synthesis and semisynthesis. In this overview the author briefly describes the current state-of-the-art, with major stress on the chemical synthesis of peptides.