N-Methylamidinoglycine, an isomer of creatine which was postulated to be formed enzymatically in vitro, has been synthesized by coupling glycine with N, S-dimethylthiopseudouronium iodide in a yield of approxirnately 60%. On heating in acidic solution, it was converted to a cyclized form (isocreatinine) in analogy with the conversion of creatine to creatinine(anhydrous form). Structures were confirmed by an elemental analysis and proton NMR spectroscopy. Further studies on their characteristics were compared with those of creatine and creatinine in regard to isoelectric points(pI), retardation coefficients(Rf) on thin layer chromatography, and elution profiles on amino acid analyzer. In order to facilitate the comparison, 14C-labeled creatine, creatinine, isocreatine and isocreatinine were also synthesized.
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