SynopsisThe preparation of the co-oligopeptides of the series H-Gly-Phe-(Gly),-Trp-Gly-OH ( n = 0, 1, 2) and of other free peptides of glycine, L-tryptophan, and L-phenylalanine is reported. The syntheses have been carried out by conventional methods, using N-hydroxysuccinimide esters for the coupling steps. The ultraviolet absorption properties of the free peptides have been investigated in water. No hypo-or hyperchromicity was found for the aromatic chromophores, with the exception of H-Gly-Phe-Trp-OH, which shows a small but significant hypochromicity. The contribution of the peptide bond to the molar absorptivity in the far ultraviolet has been separated from that of the side chain plus the -COO-group by plotting the measured molar absorptivity c of the farthest accessible uv maximum as a function of the number of peptide bonds ( n~) .The peptide bond contribution proved to be independent of n~ in the range n~ = 1-5, thus ruling out the onset of helical conformations in the longer chain peptides.