R. Bruce Merrifield and Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis: A Historical Assessment

Bruce Merrifield, trained as a biochemist, had to address three major challenges related to the development and acceptance of solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The challenges were (1) to reduce the concept of peptide synthesis on a insoluble support to practice, (2) overcome the resistance of synthetic chemists to this novel approach, and (3) establish that a biochemist had the scientific credentials to effect the proposed revolutionary change in chemical synthesis. How these challenges were met is discussed in this article.