Includes bibliographical references and index.

Amino Acids as Building Blocks. Amino Acid Biosynthesis / Emily J Parker, Andrew J Pratt -- Heterocycles from Amino Acids / M Isabel Calaza, Carlos Cativiela -- Radical-Mediated Synthesis of [alpha]-Amino Acids and Peptides / Jan Deska -- Synthesis of [beta]- Lactams (Cephalosporins) by Bioconversion / Jose Luis Barredo, Marta Rodriguez-S̀iz, Jose Luis Adrio, Arnold L Demain -- Structure and Reactivity of [beta]- Lactams / Michael I Page -- Amino Acid Coupling Chemistry. Solution-Phase Peptide Synthesis / Yuko Tsuda, Yoshio Okada -- Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis: Historical Aspects / Garland R Marshall -- Linkers for Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis / Miroslav Soural, Jan Hlavac, Viktor Krchnak -- Orthogonal Protecting Groups and Side-Reactions in Fmoc/Bu Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis / Stefano Carganico, Anna Maria Papini -- Fmoc Methodology: Cleavage from the Resin and Final Deprotection / Fernando Albericio, Judit Tulla-Puche, Steven A Kates -- Strategy in Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis / Kleomenis Barlos, Knut Adermann -- Peptide-Coupling Reagents / Ayman El- Faham, Fernando Albericio -- Chemoselective Peptide Ligation: A Privileged Tool for Protein Synthesis / Christian P R Hackenberger, Jeffrey W Bode, Dirk Schwarzer -- Automation of Peptide Synthesis / Carlo Di Bello, Andrea Bagno, Monica Dettin -- Peptide Purification by Reversed-Phase Chromatography / Ulrike Kusebauch, Joshua McBee, Julie Bletz, Richard J Simpson, Robert L Moritz -- Difficult Peptides / M Teresa Machini Miranda, Cleber W Liria, Cesar Remuzgo.