The development of highly active and selective enzyme inhibitors is one of the priorities of medicinal chemistry. Typically, various high-throughput screening methods are used to find lead compounds from a large pool of synthetic compounds, and these are further elaborated and structurally refined to achieve the desired properties. In an effort to streamline this complex and laborious process, new selection strategies based on different principles have recently emerged as an alternative.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the great advances in solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), the incorporation of certain functional groups into peptide sequences is restricted by the compatibility of the building blocks with conditions used during SPPS. In particular, the introduction of highly reactive groups used in modern bioorthogonal reactions into peptides remains elusive. Here, we present an optimized synthetic protocol enabling installation of two strained dienophiles, trans-cyclooctene (TCO) and bicyclononyne (BCN), into different peptide sequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeteroscorpionate ligands of the bis(pyrazolyl)methane family have been applied in the stabilisation of terminal copper tosyl nitrenes. These species are highly active intermediates in the copper-catalysed direct C-H amination and nitrene transfer. Novel perfluoroalkyl-pyrazolyl- and pyridinyl-containing ligands were synthesized to coordinate to a reactive copper nitrene centre.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluorogenic bioorthogonal reactions enable visualization of biomolecules under native conditions with excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we present the design and synthesis of conformationally-strained aziridine-fused trans-cyclooctene (aza-TCO) dienophiles, which lead to the formation of fluorescent products in tetrazine ligations without the need for attachment of an extra fluorophore moiety. The presented aza-TCOs adopt the highly strained "half-chair" conformation, which was predicted computationally and confirmed by NMR measurements and X-ray crystallography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2017
The development of fluorogenic reactions which lead to the formation of fluorescent products from two nonfluorescent starting materials is highly desirable, but challenging. Reported herein is a new concept of fluorescent product formation upon the inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction of 1,2,4,5-tetrazines with particular trans-cyclooctene (TCO) isomers. In sharp contrast to known fluorogenic reagents the presented chemistry leads to the rapid formation of unprecedented fluorescent 1,4-dihydropyridazines so that the fluorophore is built directly upon the chemical reaction.
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