Cyclol - Hybrid Models

Hybrid Models

From the beginning, the cyclol reaction was considered as a covalent analog of the hydrogen bond. Therefore, it was natural to consider hybrid models with both types of bonds. This was the subject of Wrinch's fourth paper on the cyclol model (1936), written together with Dorothy Jordan Lloyd, who first proposed that globular proteins are stabilized by hydrogen bonds. A follow-up paper was written in 1937 that referenced other researchers on hydrogen bonding in proteins, such as Maurice Loyal Huggins and Linus Pauling.

Wrinch also wrote a paper with William Astbury, noting the possibility of a keto-enol isomerization of the >CαHα and an amide carbonyl group >C=O, producing a crosslink >Cα-C(OHα)< and again converting the oxygen to a hydroxyl group. Such reactions could yield five-membered rings, whereas the classic cyclol hypothesis produces six-membered rings. This keto-enol crosslink hypothesis was not developed much further.