Design of a 1,8-naphthalimide-based OFF-ON type bioorthogonal reagent for fluorescent imaging in live cells

A novel 1,8-naphthalimide-based OFF-ON type fluorogenic sydnone (Naph-Syd) as bioorthogonal probe has been developed, which can be triggered by fast cycloaddition reactions with strained alkynes for imaging of biomolecules in cellular environment.     

Bioorthogonal Ligation and Cleavage by Reactions of Chloroquinoxalines with ortho‐Dithiophenols

A bioorthogonal ligation and cleavage method via reactions of chloroquinoxalines (CQ) and ortho‐dithiophenols (DT) is presented. Double nucleophilic substitutions of ortho‐dithiophenols to chloroquinoxalines provide conjugates containing tetracyclic benzo[5,6][1,4]dithiino[2,3‐b]quinoxaline with strong built‐in fluorescence together with release of the other functional molecules. Three cleavable linkers were designed and successfully used in release of the molecules containing biotin from the protein conjugates. The CQ‐DT bioorthogonal reactions can be applied for the bioorthogonal ligations, bioorthogonal cleavages, and trans‐tagging of proteins, and show advantages of readily accessible unnatural orthogonal groups, appealing reaction kinetics (k₂≈1.3 m ^?1 s^?1), excellent biocompatibility of orthogonal groups, and high stability of conjugates. This complements previous bioorthogonal reactions and is a new route for protein‐fishing applications and in‐gel fluorescence analysis.     

Vinylboronic Acids as Fast Reacting,Synthetically Accessible,and Stable Bioorthogonal Reactants in the Carboni–Lindsey Reaction

Bioorthogonal reactions are widely used for the chemical modification of biomolecules. The application of vinylboronic acids (VBAs) as non‐strained, synthetically accessible and water‐soluble reaction partners in a bioorthogonal inverse electron‐demand Diels–Alder (iEDDA) reaction with 3,6‐dipyridyl‐s‐tetrazines is described. Depending on the substituents, VBA derivatives give second‐order rate constants up to 27 m ^?1 s^?1 in aqueous environments at room temperature, which is suitable for biological labeling applications. The VBAs are shown to be biocompatible, non‐toxic, and highly stable in aqueous media and cell lysate. Furthermore, VBAs can be used orthogonally to the strain‐promoted alkyne–azide cycloaddition for protein modification, making them attractive complements to the bioorthogonal molecular toolbox.     

Daytime Reactions of 1,8‐Cineole in the Troposphere

Relative rate coefficients for the gas‐phase reaction of chlorine atoms (Cl) and hydroxyl radicals (OH) with 1,8‐cineole were determined by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy between 285 and 313 K at atmospheric pressure. The temperature dependence of both reactions shows simple Arrhenius behaviour which can be represented by the following expressions (in units of cm³ molecule^?1s^?1): k(1,8‐cineole+OH)=(6.28±6.53)×10^?8exp[(?2549.3±155.7)/T] and k(1,8‐cineole+Cl)=(1.35±1.07)×10^?10exp[(?151.6±237.7)/T]. Major products of the titled reactions were identified by solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to a GC‐MS. Additionally, the first step of the reaction was theoretically studied by ab initio calculations and a reaction mechanism is proposed.     

Studies on the stability and stabilization of trans-cyclooctenes through radical inhibition and silver (I) metal complexation

Conformationally strained trans-cyclooctenes (TCOs) engage in bioorthogonal reactions with tetrazines with second order rate constants that can exceed 10⁶ M^?1s^?1. The goal of this study was to provide insight into the stability of TCO reagents and to develop methods for stabilizing TCO reagents for long-term storage. The radical inhibitor Trolox suppresses TCO isomerization under high thiol concentrations and TCO shelf-life can be greatly extended by protecting them as stable Ag(I) metal complexes. ¹H NMR studies show that Ag-complexation is thermodynamically favorable but the kinetics of dissociation are very rapid, and TCO?AgNO₃ complexes are immediately dissociated upon addition of NaCl which is present in high concentration in cell media. The AgNO₃ complex of a highly reactive s-TCO-TAMRA conjugate was shown to label a protein-tetrazine conjugate in live cells with faster kinetics and similar labeling yield relative to a ‘traditional’ TCO-TAMRA conjugate.     

Bioorthogonal Ligation and Cleavage by Reactions of Chloroquinoxalines with ortho-Dithiophenols

A bioorthogonal ligation and cleavage method via reactions of chloroquinoxalines (CQ) and ortho-dithiophenols (DT) is presented. Double nucleophilic substitutions of ortho-dithiophenols to chloroquinoxalines provide conjugates containing tetracyclic benzo[5,6][1,4]dithiino[2,3-b]quinoxaline with strong built-in fluorescence together with release of the other functional molecules. Three cleavable linkers were designed and successfully used in release of the molecules containing biotin from the protein conjugates. The CQ-DT bioorthogonal reactions can be applied for the bioorthogonal ligations, bioorthogonal cleavages, and trans-tagging of proteins, and show advantages of readily accessible unnatural orthogonal groups, appealing reaction kinetics (k₂≈1.3 m ⁻¹ s⁻¹), excellent biocompatibility of orthogonal groups, and high stability of conjugates. This complements previous bioorthogonal reactions and is a new route for protein-fishing applications and in-gel fluorescence analysis.     

Development of a 18F‐Labeled Tetrazine with Favorable Pharmacokinetics for Bioorthogonal PET Imaging

A low‐molecular‐weight ¹⁸F‐labeled tetrazine derivative was developed as a highly versatile tool for bioorthogonal PET imaging. Prosthetic groups and undesired carrying of ¹⁸F through additional steps were evaded by direct ¹⁸F‐fluorination of an appropriate tetrazine precursor. Reaction kinetics of the cycloaddition with trans‐cyclooctenes were investigated by applying quantum chemical calculations and stopped‐flow measurements in human plasma; the results indicated that the labeled tetrazine is suitable as a bioorthogonal probe for the imaging of dienophile‐tagged (bio)molecules. In vitro and in vivo investigations revealed high stability and PET/MRI in mice showed fast homogeneous biodistribution of the ¹⁸F‐labeled tetrazine that also passes the blood–brain barrier. An in vivo click experiment confirmed the bioorthogonal behavior of this novel tetrazine probe. Due to favorable chemical and pharmacokinetic properties this bioorthogonal agent should find application in bioimaging and biomedical research.     

Simple Bipolar Hosts with High Glass Transition Temperatures Based on 1,8‐Disubstituted Carbazole for Efficient Blue and Green Electrophosphorescent Devices with “Ideal” Turn‐on Voltage

Two hybrids based on 1,8‐disubstituted carbazole, 1,8‐OXDCz and 1,8‐mBICz , have been designed and synthesized through a facile process. The incorporation of oxadiazole or N‐phenylbenzimidazole moieties at the 1,8‐positions of carbazole greatly improves its morphological stability, giving glass transition temperatures (T_g) as high as 138 and 154 °C, respectively. Blue phosphorescent organic light‐emitting devices (PhOLEDs) with 1,8‐mBICz exhibit almost the same performance as a similarly structured device based on the mCP host, and green PhOLEDs employing the new host material 1,8‐OXDCz exhibit an ideal turn‐on voltage (2.5 V at 1.58 cd m^?2), a maximum current efficiency (η_c,max) of 73.9 cd A^?1, and a power efficiency (η_p,max) of 89.7 lm W^?1. These results are among the best performances of [Ir(ppy)₃]‐based devices with simple device configurations.     

Alkene–Tetrazine Ligation for Imaging Cellular DNA

5‐Vinyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine (VdU) is the first reported metabolic probe for cellular DNA synthesis that can be visualized by using an inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reaction with a fluorescent tetrazine. VdU is incorporated by endogenous enzymes into the genomes of replicating cells, where it exhibits reduced genotoxicity compared to 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine (EdU). The VdU–tetrazine ligation reaction is rapid (k≈0.02 M ^?1 s^?1) and chemically orthogonal to the alkyne–azide “click” reaction of EdU‐modified DNA. Alkene–tetrazine ligation reactions provide the first alternative to azide–alkyne click reactions for the bioorthogonal chemical labeling of nucleic acids in cells and facilitate time‐resolved, multicolor labeling of DNA synthesis.     

Ab Initio Study of Ring Flipping of the Overcrowded Peri-Substituted Naphthalenes

Ab inintio molecular orbital and density functional theory method were used to investigate the structural and dynamic behavior of 1,8-di-tert-butyl naphthalene (1), 1,8-bis(trimethylsilyl)naphthalene (2), 1,8-bis(trimethylgermyl)naphthalene (3), and 1,8-bis(trimethylstannyl)naphthalene (4). HF/3-21G//HF/3-21G results revealed that the ring flipping barrier height of compound 1–4 is 92.59, 32.13, 26.76, and 15.46 kJ mol^?1 respectively. The obtained results show that the transition state structure for ring flipping of the bulky-groups is in a planar form with naphthalene ring. Contrary to compound 1, the ring flipping of compounds 2–4 occurred easily at room temperature. Also, MP2/3-21G//HF/3-21G energy calculation, show that the enantiomerization energy of compounds 1–4 are 97.99, 33.24, 26.80, and 15.38 kJ·mol^?1 respectively. The required energy for ring inversion of compounds 1–4 are 85.09, 27.26, 21.54, and 10.21 kJ mol^?1 respectively, as calculated by B3LYP/3-21G//HF/3-21G method. It can be concluded that the lower energy barrier of the ring flipping of compounds 2–4 is related to the increasing of the bond lengths of Si—C, Ge—C, and Sn—C, in contrast to C—C bond.     

Enzyme‐Mediated Endogenous and Bioorthogonal Control of a DNAzyme Fluorescent Sensor for Imaging Metal Ions in Living Cells

Bioorthogonal control of metal‐ion sensors for imaging metal ions in living cells is important for understanding the distribution and fluctuation of metal ions. Reported here is the endogenous and bioorthogonal activation of a DNAzyme fluorescent sensor containing an 18‐base pair recognition site of a homing endonuclease (I‐SceI), which is found by chance only once in 7×10¹⁰ bp of genomic sequences, and can thus form a near bioorthogonal pair with I‐SceI for DNAzyme activation with minimal effect on living cells. Once I‐SceI is expressed inside cells, it cleaves at the recognition site, allowing the DNAzyme to adopt its active conformation. The activated DNAzyme sensor is then able to specifically catalyze cleavage of a substrate strand in the presence of Mg²⁺ to release the fluorophore‐labeled DNA fragment and produce a fluorescent turn‐on signal for Mg²⁺. Thus I‐SceI bioorthogonally activates the 10–23 DNAzyme for imaging of Mg²⁺ in HeLa cells.     

Determination of total rare earth elements,thorium and chromium with 2-(2-arsenophenylazo)-1,8-dihydroxy-7-(2,6-dibromo-4-fluorophenylazo) naphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid by reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography

The retention behaviour of the complexes of rare earth elements, thorium and chromium with 2-(2- arsenophenylazo)-1,8-dihydroxy-7-(2,6-dibromo-4-fluorophenylazo)naphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid was studied. Precolumn derivatization was used. The stationary phase was ODS-bonded silica and the mobile phase was methanol-water-tetrabutylammonium bromide. The detection limits are 2 ng ml^?1 for total rare earths, 2.5 ng ml^?1 for thorium and 10 ng ml^?1 for chromium. The tolerance of foreign ions is very high. The method can be applied satisfactorily to ore samples and rocks.     

A Bioorthogonal Reaction of N‐Oxide and Boron Reagents

The development of bioorthogonal reactions has classically focused on bond‐forming ligation reactions. In this report, we seek to expand the functional repertoire of such transformations by introducing a new bond‐cleaving reaction between N‐oxide and boron reagents. The reaction features a large dynamic range of reactivity, showcasing second‐order rate constants as high as 2.3×10³ M ^?1 s^?1 using diboron reaction partners. Diboron reagents display minimal cell toxicity at millimolar concentrations, penetrate cell membranes, and effectively reduce N‐oxides inside mammalian cells. This new bioorthogonal process based on miniscule components is thus well‐suited for activating molecules within cells under chemical control. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the metabolic diversity of nature enables the use of naturally occurring functional groups that display inherent biocompatibility alongside abiotic components for organism‐specific applications.     

Vinylboronic Acids as Fast Reacting,Synthetically Accessible,and Stable Bioorthogonal Reactants in the Carboni–Lindsey Reaction

Bioorthogonal reactions are widely used for the chemical modification of biomolecules. The application of vinylboronic acids (VBAs) as non‐strained, synthetically accessible and water‐soluble reaction partners in a bioorthogonal inverse electron‐demand Diels–Alder (iEDDA) reaction with 3,6‐dipyridyl‐s‐tetrazines is described. Depending on the substituents, VBA derivatives give second‐order rate constants up to 27 m ⁻¹ s⁻¹ in aqueous environments at room temperature, which is suitable for biological labeling applications. The VBAs are shown to be biocompatible, non‐toxic, and highly stable in aqueous media and cell lysate. Furthermore, VBAs can be used orthogonally to the strain‐promoted alkyne–azide cycloaddition for protein modification, making them attractive complements to the bioorthogonal molecular toolbox.     

Fast and Tight Boronate Formation for Click Bioorthogonal Conjugation

A new click bioorthogonal reaction system was devised to enable the fast ligation (k_ON≈340 m ^?1 s^?1) of conjugatable derivatives of a rigid cyclic diol (nopoldiol) and a carefully optimized boronic acid partner, 2‐methyl‐5‐carboxymethylphenylboronic acid. Using NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy studies, the corresponding boronates were found to form reversibly within minutes at low micromolar concentration in water, providing submicromolar equilibrium constant (K_eq≈10⁵–10⁶ m ^?1). Efficient protein conjugation under physiological conditions was demonstrated with model proteins thioredoxin and albumin, and characterized by mass spectrometry and gel electrophoresis.     

“Photoclick” Postsynthetic Modification of DNA

A new DNA building block bearing a push–pull‐substituted diaryltetrazole linked to the 5‐position of 2′‐deoxyuridine through an aminopropynyl group was synthesized. The accordingly modified oligonucleotide allows postsynthetic labeling with a maleimide‐modified sulfo‐Cy3 dye, N‐methylmaleimide, and methylmethacrylate as dipolarophiles by irradiation at 365 nm (LED). The determined rate constant of (23±7) M ^?1 s^?1 is remarkably high with respect to other copper‐free bioorthogonal reactions and comparable with the copper‐catalyzed cycloaddition between azides and acetylenes.     

Expanding the Range of Bioorthogonal Tags for Multiplex Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy

Multiplex optical detection in live cells is challenging due to overlapping signals and poor signal-to-noise associated with some chemical reporters. To address this, the application of spectral phasor analysis to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy for unmixing three bioorthogonal Raman probes within cells is reported. Triplex detection of a metallacarborane using the B−H stretch at 2480–2650 cm⁻¹, together with a bis-alkyne and deuterated fatty acid can be achieved within the cell-silent region of the Raman spectrum. When coupled to imaging in the high-wavenumber region of the cellular Raman spectrum, nine discrete regions of interest can be spectrally unmixed from the hyperspectral SRS dataset, demonstrating a new capability in the toolkit of multiplexed Raman imaging of live cells.     

1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone-Mg(II) complex: II. Spectrophotometric study. Determination of Mg(II)

The 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone (1,8-DHAn) shows a colored and fluorescent reaction with the ion Mg(II) in a hydroalcoholic and ammonical medium.In the present work we have studied spectrophotometrically the 1,8-DHAn-Mg(II) complex in a hydroethanolic and ammonical, 8 × 10^?4M medium. We found that the complex shows a maximum absorbance at 510 nm, and obeys a 1:1 stoichiometry with log K of 4.08.We propose a new method for the spectrophotometric determination of Mg(II) which is valid for concentrations between 0.25 and 2.00 ppm, and yields an error of 1.32%.     

Iminoboronate Formation Leads to Fast and Reversible Conjugation Chemistry of α‐Nucleophiles at Neutral pH

Bioorthogonal reactions that are fast and reversible under physiological conditions are in high demand for biological applications. Herein, it is shown that an ortho boronic acid substituent makes aryl ketones rapidly conjugate with α‐nucleophiles at neutral pH. Specifically, 2‐acetylphenylboronic acid and derivatives were found to conjugate with phenylhydrazine with rate constants of 10² to 10³ M ^?1 s^?1, comparable to the fastest bioorthogonal conjugations known to date. ¹¹B NMR analysis revealed the varied extent of iminoboronate formation of the conjugates, in which the imine nitrogen forms a dative bond with boron. The iminoboronate formation activates the imines for hydrolysis and exchange, rendering these oxime/hydrazone conjugations reversible and dynamic under physiological conditions. The fast and dynamic nature of the iminoboronate chemistry should find wide applications in biology.     

Mediated electron transfer with P450cin

P450cin stereoselectively hydroxylated its natural substrate 1,8-cineole to 2β-hydroxy-1,8-cineole in an electrochemical cell which allowed for substitution of the natural cofactor NADPH by artificial redox mediators. Cobalt sepulchrate, phenosafranine, safranine T, FAD and FMN enabled artificial electron transfer from the platinum electrode to P450cin via the redox partner protein cindoxin. The highest product formation, 6.50 ± 0.60 nmol (product) nmol (P450)^?1 min^?1 cm^?2, was achieved using cobalt sepulchrate. Surprisingly, phenosafranine and safranine T enabled electron transfer even in the absence of NADPH, cindoxin, and cindoxin reductase, thereby illustrating that none of the natural redox partners is needed for product formation.