Photochemie diarylsubstituierter 2H-Tetrazole. VI. Quantenausbeuten der Photolyse diarylsubstituierter 2H-Tetrazole

Transition-Metal-Free Coupling of 1,3-Dipoles and Boronic Acids as a Sustainable Approach to C-C Bond Formation

The need for alternative, complementary approaches to enable C-C bond formation within organic chemistry is an on-going challenge in the area. Of particular relevance are transformations that proceed in the absence of transition-metal reagents. In the current study, we report a comprehensive investigation of the coupling of nitrile imines and aryl boronic acids as an approach towards sustainable C-C bond formation. In situ generation of the highly reactive 1,3-dipole facilitates a Petasis-Mannich-type coupling via a nucleophilic boronate complex. The introduction of hydrazonyl chlorides as a complementary nitrile imine source to the 2,5-tetrazoles previously reported by our laboratory further broadens the scope of the approach. Additionally, we exemplify for the first time the extension of this protocol into another 1,3-dipole, through the synthesis of aryl ketone oximes from aryl boronic acids and nitrile N-oxides.

One-Pot Suzuki-Hydrogenolysis Protocol for the Modular Synthesis of 2,5-Diaryltetrazoles

2,5-Diaryltetrazoles are a diverse range of compounds of considerable interest within the field of photochemistry as a valuable precursor of the nitrile imine 1,3-dipole. Current literature approaches toward this heterocycle remain unsuitable for the practical synthesis of a library of these derivatives. Herein, we disclose the development of a modular approach toward 2,5-diaryltetrazoles compatible with an array-type protocol, facilitated by a tandem Suzuki-hydrogenolysis approach.

Metal-free C-C bond formation via coupling of nitrile imines and boronic acids

The challenges of developing sustainable methods of carbon-carbon bond formation remains a topic of considerable importance in synthetic chemistry. Capitalizing on the highly reactive nature of the nitrile imine 1,3-dipole, we have developed a novel metal-free coupling of this species with aryl boronic acids. Photochemical generation of a nitrile imine intermediate and trapping with a palette of boronic acids enabled rapid and facile access to a broad library of more than 25 hydrazone derivatives in up to 92% yield, forming a carbon-carbon bond in a metal free fashion. This represents the first reported example of direct reaction between boronic acids and a 1,3-dipole.

Photo-Triggered Click Chemistry for Biological Applications

In the last decade and a half, numerous bioorthogonal reactions have been developed with a goal to study biological processes in their native environment, i.e., in living cells and animals. Among them, the photo-triggered reactions offer several unique advantages including operational simplicity with the use of light rather than toxic metal catalysts and ligands, and exceptional spatiotemporal control through the application of an appropriate light source with pre-selected wavelength, light intensity and exposure time. While the photoinduced reactions have been studied extensively in materials research, e.g., on macromolecular surface, the adaptation of these reactions for chemical biology applications is still in its infancy. In this chapter, we review the recent efforts in the discovery and optimization the photo-triggered bioorthogonal reactions, with a focus on those that have shown broad utility in biological systems. We discuss in each cases the chemical and mechanistic background, the kinetics of the reactions and the biological applicability together with the limiting factors.

Photoinducible bioorthogonal chemistry: a spatiotemporally controllable tool to visualize and perturb proteins in live cells

Visualization in biology has been greatly facilitated by the use of fluorescent proteins as in-cell probes. The genes coding for these wavelength-tunable proteins can be readily fused with the DNA coding for a protein of interest, which enables direct monitoring of natural proteins in real time inside living cells. Despite their success, however, fluorescent proteins have limitations that have only begun to be addressed in the past decade through the development of bioorthogonal chemistry. In this approach, a very small bioorthogonal tag is embedded within the basic building blocks of the cell, and then a variety of external molecules can be selectively conjugated to these pretagged biomolecules. The result is a veritable palette of biophysical probes for the researcher to choose from. In this Account, we review our progress in developing a photoinducible, bioorthogonal tetrazole-alkene cycloaddition reaction ("photoclick chemistry") and applying it to probe protein dynamics and function in live cells. The work described here summarizes the synthesis, structure, and reactivity studies of tetrazoles, including their optimization for applications in biology. Building on key insights from earlier reports, our initial studies of the reaction have revealed full water compatibility, high photoactivation quantum yield, tunable photoactivation wavelength, and broad substrate scope; an added benefit is the formation of fluorescent cycloadducts. Subsequent studies have shown fast reaction kinetics (up to 11.0 M(-1) s(-1)), with the rate depending on the HOMO energy of the nitrile imine dipole as well as the LUMO energy of the alkene dipolarophile. Moreover, through the use of photocrystallography, we have observed that the photogenerated nitrile imine adopts a bent geometry in the solid state. This observation has led to the synthesis of reactive, macrocyclic tetrazoles that contain a short "bridge" between two flanking phenyl rings. This photoclick chemistry has been used to label proteins rapidly (within ∼1 min) both in vitro and in E. coli . To create an effective interface with biology, we have identified both a metabolically incorporable alkene amino acid, homoallylglycine, and a genetically encodable tetrazole amino acid, p-(2-tetrazole)phenylalanine. We demonstrate the utility of these two moieties, respectively, in spatiotemporally controlled imaging of newly synthesized proteins and in site-specific labeling of proteins. Additionally, we demonstrate the use of the photoclick chemistry to perturb the localization of a fluorescent protein in mammalian cells.

Discovery of long-wavelength photoactivatable diaryltetrazoles for bioorthogonal 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions

Several long-wavelength (365 nm) photoactivatable diaryltetrazoles were discovered by screening a series of substituted diaryltetrazoles and subsequently showed excellent reactivity in the photoactivated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions toward electron-deficient and conjugated alkenes in organic solvents as well as an alkene-containing protein in the aqueous buffer.

Convenient synthesis of highly functionalized pyrazolines via mild, photoactivated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition

A mild, photoactivated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition procedure was successfully developed for the synthesis of polysubstituted pyrazolines. This procedure involved the in situ generation of the reactive nitrile imine dipoles using a hand-held UV lamp at 302 nm, followed by spontaneous cycloaddition with a broad range of 1,3-dipolarophiles with excellent solvent compatibility, functional group tolerance, regioselectivity, and yield.

On the mechanism of the multistep reduction of tetrazolium salts with special reference to the involvement of tetrazolium radicals

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed to analyze which products are formed when unstable tetrazolinyl radicals are generated during the reduction of tetrazolium salts under physiological conditions of biochemical and histochemical assays. It was found in aqueous media that irrespective the assay conditions, reduction of 2,3-di(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride (p-DNTTC) or 2,3-di(4-nitrophenyl)-5-t-butyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride (t-butyl-DNTC) always lead to production of formazan and never to generation of the corresponding 2(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl- (respectively t-butyl-) tetrazoles by splitting off a nitrophenyl side chain from the tetrazolium ring as a cation. This reaction is known to occur in non-aqueous media (Neugebauer, 1973). Because p-DNTTC is analogous to tetrazolium salts that are used in biochemical and histochemical assays, it is concluded that reduction of tetrazolium salts leads to formation of formazans only under these conditions.