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.