Nadezhda V. Sokolova

Recent advances in the Cu(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition: focus on functionally substituted azides and alkynes

First described by the groups of Sharpless (Rostovtsev et al., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2002, 41, 2596) and Meldal (Tornoe et al., J. Org. Chem., 2002, 67, 3057) in 2002, Cu(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) became one of the most effective and reliable synthetic tools in diverse areas of modern chemistry, such as organic, medicinal and polymer chemistry, material science and chemical biology. The advantages of this reaction are high selectivity, simple reaction conditions, wide scope and excellent functional group tolerance. This efficient transformation can be used for the synthesis of various 1,2,3-triazoles. On the other hand, CuAAC can be efficiently used for bioconjugation of two units bearing alkyne and azide functions via the triazole moiety. Moreover, the use of azides and alkynes bearing orthogonal functional groups in this reaction opens broad opportunities for the synthesis of valuable polyfunctionalized triazole-containg molecules. Thus, the initial discussion is focused on synthetic applications of functionally substituted azides and terminal alkynes in the CuAAC, combined with other transformations. The prominent part of this review is devoted to an application of these bi (or tri)-functional reagents for the design, synthesis or labeling of biologically active molecules.

Synthesis and biological activity of N-substituted-tetrahydro-γ-carbolines containing peptide residues

Summary The synthesis of novel peptide conjugates of N-substituted-tetrahydro-γ-carbolines has been performed using the sequence of the Ugi multicomponent reaction and Cu(I)-catalyzed click chemistry. The effect of obtained γ-carboline–peptide conjugates on the rat liver mitochondria was evaluated. It was found that all compounds in the concentration of 30 µM did onot induce depolarization of mitochondria but possessed some inhibitory effect on the mitochondria permeability transition. The original N-substituted-tetrahydro-γ-carbolines containing an terminal alkyne group demonstrated a high prooxidant activity, whereas their conjugates with peptide fragments slightly inhibited both autooxidation and the t-BHP-induced lipid peroxidation.

Synthesis and testing of trifluoromethyl-containing phosphonate-peptide conjugates as inhibitors of serine hydrolases

A modification of novel fluorinated organophosphorous compounds containing terminal alkyne group by different azidopeptides via Cu(I)-catalyzed click chemistry has been described. The inhibitor activity of trifluoromethyl-containing methylphosphonates and their peptide-conjugates towards acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and carboxylesterase has been investigated. It was shown that the incorporation of peptide fragments significantly modulates the esterase profile of starting methylphosphonates.

Synthesis of peptide conjugates of mestranol by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition click reaction

An efficient method is presented for the synthesis of a series of peptide conjugates of the ethynylestradiol 3-methyl ether and the corresponding azidopeptides by a copper(I)-catalyzed 1,3-di-polar cycloaddition click reaction.

Chiral Heteroditopic Baskets Designed from Triazolated Calixarenes and Short Peptides

Cone calix[4]arenes and calix[6]arenes bearing two, three, and four short peptide units each having two chiral carbon atoms were prepared. The syntheses were performed by using an efficient modular approach that includes the Ugi preparation of the azido-peptide followed by its reactions with the propargylated calixarenes under CuAAC (Cu(I) -catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition) conditions. The three novel multitopic hosts were probed for their ability to bind metal ions by UV titration, and showed the highest complexation efficiency towards copper(II) and lead(II). These two cations possessed quite different complexation modes with copper(II) bound predominantly by multiple-triazole sites, in contrast to lead(II), which is stabilized mainly by multiple interactions with amide groups of the peptide units. Circular dichroism data for the free chiral hosts, their equimolar mixtures with copper(II) perchlorate and lead(II) perchlorate, and for tertiary mixtures of all three compounds showed the formation of mono- and binuclear complexes, or a switching behavior, depending on the structure of the host and the addition order of the cations.

Azidoisocyanides, New Bifunctional Reagents for Multicomponent Reactions and Biomolecule Modifications

The synthetic capabilities of chiral α,β-azidoisocyanides were systematically reviewed. The potential of using them as bifunctional building blocks for multicomponent Passerini and Ugi reactions and also for Cu(I)-catalyzed [3+2]-cycloaddition to form 1,2,3-triazoles was demonstrated. The bifunctional nature of these compounds enabled the development of a methodology for preparing peptides containing an azide group and conjugating them subsequently with various biologically active compounds containing an ethynyl group for targeted modification of biomolecules.