The Peptide Bond.

Peptide bond formation is a condensation reaction leading to the polymerization of amino acids into peptides and proteins. Peptides are small consisting of few amino acids. A number of hormones and neurotransmitters are peptides. Additionally, several antibiotics and antitumor agents are peptides. Proteins are polypeptides of greatly divergent length. The simplest peptide, a dipeptide, contains a single peptide bond formed by the condensation of the carboxyl group of one amino acidwith the amino group of the second with the concomitant elimination of water. The presence of the carbonyl group in a peptide bond allows electron resonance stabilization to occur such that the peptide bond exhibits rigidity not unlike the typical -C=C- double bond. The peptide bond is, therefore, said to have partial double-bond character.