Bioorthogonal chemistry

Bioorthogonal chemistry uses selective reactions that proceed in living systems without disrupting native biochemical processes. It enables chemical labeling and modification of biomolecules in cells and organisms.

Strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition: A copper-free cycloaddition in which a strained alkyne reacts with an azide to form a triazole. Ring strain makes this widely used labeling reaction proceed without cytotoxic copper catalysts.
Noncanonical amino acid: An amino acid other than the standard set used to build proteins. Some are engineered into proteins to provide chemical handles for selective labeling.
Chemical biology: A field that uses chemical tools to investigate and manipulate biological systems. Bioorthogonal chemistry supplies selective reactions for studying biomolecules in their native settings.
Karl Barry Sharpless: An American chemist whose work on selective synthesis and click chemistry earned the 2001 and 2022 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry. Sharpless introduced the term click chemistry and helped shape its reaction criteria.
Bioconjugation: The covalent joining of a biomolecule to another molecule or material. Bioorthogonal chemistry is one selective route to bioconjugation in living systems.
Tetrazine ligation: A rapid reaction between a tetrazine and a strained alkene or alkyne, producing nitrogen gas. Its fast kinetics enable labeling at low reagent concentrations in living systems.
Genetic code expansion: A set of methods that assigns new codons to incorporate noncanonical amino acids into proteins. It places bioorthogonal reaction partners at chosen sites in living cells.
Protein labeling: The attachment of a detectable or functional chemical group to a protein. Bioorthogonal reactions label proteins without requiring a naturally occurring reactive group.
Carolyn Bertozzi: An American chemist who developed bioorthogonal reactions for studying glycans and other biomolecules in living systems. Bertozzi established the field and developed copper-free click reactions for biological use.
Copper-free click chemistry: Click reactions that avoid copper catalysts, including strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition. Removing copper improves compatibility, though some copper-free reactions are slower or bulkier.

Linked from 7 pages