Development of an Intein-Inspired Amide Cleavage Chemical Device.

A photoresponsive amide cleavage device was developed based on the asparagine imidation-mediated cleavage of peptide bonds during intein-mediated protein splicing. The chemical environment of the protein splicing process was mimicked by the incorporation of geminal dimethyl groups and a secondary amine unit in asparagine scaffold. Furthermore, the resulting photoresponsive device could induce the phototriggered cleavage of an amide bond by the protection of the secondary amine unit with an o-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl group.