A solution conformational analysis of Dolastatin 10, a powerful antineoplaslic agent, has been carried out by means of NMR techniques and theoretical calculations. ¹H mono- and bidimensional NMR experiments, as well as ¹H-¹³C heterocorrelated spectra, have been performed on CD₂Cl₂ solutions. The most interesting NMR data is a huge shielding of the aCH (25) proton of the Dov residue, suggesting the presence of an interaction between the N-terminal and the aromatic C-terminal ends of the molecule.

The possibility of a head-to-tail intermolecular association having been discarded, the presence of a series of preferred folded conformation has been hypothesized. Conformational theoretical analysis supports the NMR hypothesis of a folded peptide-like molecule, and a series of possible conformers in good agreement with the experimental data have been analyzed.