Staudinger ligation as a method for bioconjugation

In 1919 the German chemist Hermann Staudinger was the first to describe the reaction between an azide and a phosphine. It was not until recently, however, that Bertozzi and co-workers recognized the potential of this reaction as a method for bioconjugation and transformed it into the so-called Staudinger ligation. The bio-orthogonal character of both the azide and the phosphine functions has resulted in the Staudinger ligation finding numerous applications in various complex biological systems. For example, the Staudinger ligation has been utilized to label glycans, lipids, DNA, and proteins. Moreover, the Staudinger ligation has been used as a synthetic method to construct glycopeptides, microarrays, and functional biopolymers. In the emerging field of bio-orthogonal ligation strategies, the Staudinger ligation has set a high standard to which most of the new techniques are often compared. This Review summarizes recent developments and new applications of the Staudinger ligation.     

Reaction mechanism and kinetics of the traceless Staudinger ligation

The traceless Staudinger ligation enables the formation of an amide bond between a phosphinothioester (or phosphinoester) and an azide without the incorporation of residual atoms. Here, the coupling of peptides by this reaction was characterized in detail. Experiments with [(18)O]H(2)O indicated that the reaction mediated by (diphenylphosphino)methanethiol proceeded by S-->N acyl transfer of the iminophosphorane intermediate to form an amidophosphonium salt, rather than by an aza-Wittig reaction and subsequent hydrolysis of the resulting thioimidate. A continuous (13)C NMR-based assay revealed that the rate-determining step in the Staudinger ligation of glycyl residues mediated by (diphenylphosphino)methanethiol was the formation of the initial phosphazide intermediate. Less efficacious coupling reagents and reaction conditions led to the accumulation of an amine byproduct (which resulted from a Staudinger reduction) or phosphonamide byproduct (which resulted from an aza-Wittig reaction). The Staudinger ligation mediated by (diphenylphosphino)methanethiol proceeded with a second-order rate constant (7.7 x 10(-3) M(-1) s(-1)) and yield (95%) that was unchanged by the addition of exogenous nucleophiles. Ligations mediated by phosphinoalcohols had lower rate constants or less chemoselectivity. Accordingly, (diphenylphosphino)methanethiol was judged to be the most efficacious known reagent for effecting the traceless Staudinger ligation.     

Synthesis of 3-oxo-1,4-diazepine-5-carboxamides and 6-(4-oxo-chromen-3-yl)-pyrazinones via sequential Ugi 4CC/Staudinger/intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization and Ugi 4CC/Staudinger/aza-Wittig reactions

An efficient approach for the assembly of 1,4-diazepine-based and 6-(4-oxo-chromen-3-yl)-pyrazinone-based frameworks has been developed that involves the Ugi four-component reaction (U-4CR) followed by Staudinger/nucleophilic cyclization and Staudinger/Aza-Wittig reactions, respectively. This convergent approach exhibits a high bond-forming efficiency, involving the use of readily available commercial reagents and is an example of the reconciliation of structural complexity with operational simplicity in a time- and cost-effective manner.     

Diastereoselectivity in the Staudinger reaction: a useful probe for investigation of nonthermal microwave effects

The effect of microwave irradiation on the selectivity, especially stereoselectivity, is one of the most important issues in microwave-assisted organic reactions. The diastereoselectivity in Staudinger reactions involving the representative ketenes and the corresponding matched imines has been used as a probe to investigate carefully the existence of the specific nonthermal microwave effects. The results indicate that the microwave irradiation-controlled stereoselectivity in the Staudinger reaction is in fact the contribution of temperature. No specific nonthermal microwave effect was found in the Staudinger reaction.     

Chemodivergent Staudinger Reactions of Secondary Phosphine Oxides and Application to the Total Synthesis of LL–D05139β Potassium Salt

Unprecedented Staudinger reaction modes of secondary phosphine oxides (SPO) and organic azides are herein disclosed. By the application of various additives, selective nitrogen atom exclusion from the azide group has been achieved. Chlorotrimethylsilane mediates a stereoretentive Staudinger reaction with a 2-N exclusion which provides a valuable method for the synthesis of phosphinic amides and can be considered complementary to the stereoinvertive Atherton–Todd reaction. Alternatively, a 1-N exclusion pathway is promoted by acetic acid to provide the corresponding diazo compound. The effectiveness of this protocol has been further demonstrated by the total synthesis of the diazo-containing natural product LL-D05139β, which was prepared as a potassium salt for the first time in 6 steps and 26.5 % overall yield.     

Mechanistic investigation of the staudinger ligation

The Staudinger ligation of azides and phosphines has found widespread use in the field of chemical biology, but the mechanism of the transformation has not been characterized in detail. In this work, we undertook a mechanistic study of the Staudinger ligation with a focus on factors that affect reaction kinetics and on the identification of intermediates. The Staudinger ligation with alkyl azides was second-order overall and proceeded more rapidly in polar, protic solvents. Hammett analyses demonstrated that electron-donating substituents on the phosphine accelerate the overall reaction. The electronic and steric properties of the ester had no significant impact on the overall rate but did affect product ratios. Finally, the structure of an intermediate that accumulates under anhydrous conditions was identified. These findings establish a platform for optimizing the Staudinger ligation for expanded use in biological applications.     

Remarkable ketene substituent dependent effect of photo irradiation on the diastereoselectivity in the Staudinger reaction

Controlling diastereoselectivity is a challenging issue in the Staudinger reaction. The influence of ultraviolet irradiation on the stereoselectivity in the Staudinger reaction has been investigated. The results indicate that ultraviolet irradiation is one of the most important means to regulate the diastereoselectivity of the products in the Staudinger reaction, whatever ketenes were generated from diazomethyl ketones or from substituted acetyl chlorides in the presence of triethylamine. However, the regulation is dependent on the ketene substituents obviously. Ultraviolet irradiation can even reverse the diastereoselectivity for the reactions involving ketenes without strong electron-donating substituents.     

Chemoselective coupling of peptide fragments using the Staudinger ligation

Here we report the first Staudinger ligations which yield tetra- and pentapeptides starting from N-terminal α-azido peptides and C-terminal peptideo-(diphenylphosphine)phenyl esters. Mass spectrometric analysis of the reaction mixture provided a better insight into the mechanism of the Staudinger ligation and has been used to explain the observed intermediates and to optimize the ligation reaction. As a result, the optimized reaction enables the chemoselective coupling of peptides containing amino acids other than glycine at the ligation site.     

A proline-based phosphine template for staudinger ligation

A proline-based phosphine template enabling a rapid Staudinger ligation of azide-containing substrates under mild conditions is reported. This reaction has a second-order rate constant of 1.12 M(-1) s(-1). It is expected that the proline-based Staudinger ligation strategy will be a useful method for bioconjugation and proline based peptide coupling.     

Conversion of aryl azides to O-alkyl imidates via modified Staudinger ligation

[reaction: see text] o-Carboalkoxy triarylphosphines are shown to react with aryl azides to provide Staudinger ligation products bearing O-alkyl imidate linkages. This is in contrast to alkyl azides whose ligation to o-carboalkoxy triarylphosphines has been reported to yield amide-linked materials. This extension of the Staudinger ligation for coupling of abiotic reagents under biocompatible conditions highlights the utility of commercially available triarylphosphines through which suitable linkers can be attached via an ester moiety.     

Iminophosphorane-mediated transformation of tertiary alcohols into t-alkylamines and their N-phosphorylated derivatives

Novel azidation of tertiary alcohols by means of trimetylsilyl azide in the presence of boron trifluoride etherate has been worked out. The Staudinger reaction of crude azides with triethyl phosphite affords the corresponding iminophosphoranes which can be directly transformed into diethyl N-(t-alkyl) phosphoroamidates or t-alkylamine tosylates.     

Perfluoroaryl Azide Staudinger Reaction: A Fast and Bioorthogonal Reaction

We report a fast Staudinger reaction between perfluoroaryl azides (PFAAs) and aryl phosphines, which occurs readily under ambient conditions. A rate constant as high as 18 m ⁻¹ s⁻¹ was obtained between methyl 4‐azido‐2,3,5,6‐tetrafluorobenzoate and methyl 2‐(diphenylphosphanyl)benzoate in CD₃CN/D₂O. Furthermore, the iminophosphorane product was stable toward hydrolysis and aza‐phosphonium ylide reactions. This PFAA Staudinger reaction proved to be an excellent bioothorgonal reaction. PFAA‐derivatized mannosamine and galactosamine were successfully transformed into cell‐surface glycans and efficiently labeled with phosphine‐derivatized fluorophore‐conjugated bovine serum albumin.     

De novo synthesis of sugar-aza-crown ethers via a domino Staudinger aza-Wittig reaction

A short and highly efficient route to sugar-aza-crown (SAC) ethers has been developed. The key step of the transformation is a one-pot cyclodimerization of C-glycosyl azido aldehydes via a domino Staudinger aza-Wittig reaction. This process allows the preparation of various orthogonally protected SAC ethers, from both alpha- and beta-C-glycosyl azido aldehydes.     

DFT characterization of the mechanism for Staudinger/aza-Wittig tandem organocatalysis

A computational simulation with DFT calculations and microkinetic modeling is carried out on a complete catalytic cycle, involving Staudinger ligation, aza-Wittig condensation and phosphine oxide recycle, for non-truncated substrates and catalyst. The Staudinger reaction produces phosphazenes (R₃P?=?NR), also known as iminophosphoranes, from phosphines and organic azides. Electrophilic carbonyl groups react with phospazenes to produce imines and phosphine oxides. Recently the Staudinger reaction and the aza-Wittig condensation have been combined to spawn intramolecular tandems producing cyclic molecules of great pharmaceutical interest (e.g. benzoxazoles). The release of diatomic nitrogen combined with the formation of phosphine oxide represents the driving force of the reaction. The implementation of in situ recycling of the exhausted phosphine oxide into the Staudinger/aza-Wittig tandem improves the scopes and the applicability of the reaction, transforming it into a powerful and versatile synthetic tool.     

Total synthesis of (-)-stemospironine

[structure: see text]. A stereocontrolled total synthesis of the polycyclic Stemona alkaloid, (-)-stemospironine (1) has been achieved. Key transformations include the use of a Staudinger reaction leading to the aza-Wittig ring closure of the perhydroazepine system. Formation of the vicinal pyrrolidine butyrolactone is described via the stereoselective intramolecular capture of an intermediate aziridinium salt.     

The Vilsmeier reagent as an efficient acid activator for the synthesis of β-lactams

The Vilsmeier reagent (chloromethylenedimethylammonium chloride) has been used as an efficient and cheap acid activator for the one-step Staudinger reaction of substituted acetic acids and imines under mild conditions. This reaction is clean and the by-products are DMF and triethylamine hydrochloride which were removed by simple aqueous work-up.     

Switch peptide via Staudinger reaction

A new transformation based on the Staudinger reaction is described, and its application in the design of a novel switch element to control peptide folding is demonstrated. We found that the azide switch is activated rapidly in water to promote acyl transfer using tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP) via the Staudinger reaction. Our findings expand the repertoire of uses of the Staudinger reaction in chemical biology and the number of available triggers for use in switch peptides.     

Novel asymmetric approach to proline-derived spiro-beta-lactams

We describe a novel asymmetric approach using Staudinger chemistry to proline-derived spiro-beta-lactams. A chiral group at C-4 of the acid chloride of proline directs the stereoselectivity of Staudinger chemistry and later is sacrificed to obtain optically active 5.4-spiro-beta-lactams. The scope, limitations, and mechanistic rationale for the observed results of Staudinger Chemistry of the acid chloride of 4-alkyl(aryl)sulfonyloxy-l-proline with imines are also discussed.     

The Staudinger ligation-a gift to chemical biology

Although the reaction between an azide and a phosphane to form an aza-ylide was discovered by Hermann Staudinger more than 80 years ago and has found widespread application in organic synthesis, its potential as a highly chemoselective ligation method for the preparation of bioconjugates has been recognized only recently. As the two reaction partners are bioorthogonal to almost all functionalities that exist in biological systems and react at room temperature in an aqueous environment, the Staudinger ligation has even found application in the complex environment of living cells. Herein we describe the current state of knowledge on this reaction and its application both for the preparation of bioconjugates and as a ligation method in chemical biology.     

Janus carbosilane/phosphorhydrazone dendrimers synthesized by the ‘click’ Staudinger reaction

The first association of carbosilane dendrons (having a phosphine at the focal point) with phosphorhydrazone dendrons (having a thiophosphoryl azide at the focal point) has been successfully carried out by ‘Staudinger click’ reaction. The corresponding Janus dendrimers possess the characteristics of both components; they are oily as the carbosilane dendrons, and they can be easily functionalized as the phosphorhydrazone dendrons.