A process is provided for the solid-phase synthesis of a peptide amide which comprises attaching an .alpha.-nitrogen protected C.alpha.-carboxamide amino acid to a solid support by its side chain, removing the .alpha.-nitrogen protecting group, assembling a peptide chain on said .alpha.-nitrogen and then cleaving the assembled peptide amide from the solid support. Novel amino acid analogues, peptide amides and solid-phase supports are also provided.