Synthesis of Bifunctional Azobenzene Glycoconjugates for Cysteine-Based Photosensitive Cross-Linking with Bioactive Peptides.

Azobenzene linker molecules can be utilized to control peptide/protein function when they are ligated to appropriately spaced amino acid side chains of the peptide. This is because the photochemical E/Z isomerization of the azobenzene N=N double bond allows to switch peptide conformation between folded and unfolded. In this context, we have introduced carbohydrate-functionalized azobenzene derivatives in order to advance the biocompatible properties of azobenzene peptide linkers.