Nonenzymatic Asparagine Motif Synthesis by Photoredox-Catalyzed Carbamoylation of Dehydroalanine

Selective Aza-Michael Addition to Dehydrated Amino Acids in Natural Antimicrobial Peptides

We report the efficient and site selective modification of non-canonical dehydroamino acids in ribosomally synthesized and post-transationally modified peptides (RiPPs) by β-amination. The singly modified thiopeptide Thiostrepton showed an up to 35-fold increase in water solubility, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays showed that antimicrobial activity remained good, albeit lower than the unmodified peptide. Also the lanthipeptide nisin could be modified using this method.

Recent Advances in Photoinduced Modification of Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

The chemical modification of biopolymers like peptides and proteins is a key technology to access vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Similarly, the tunable derivatization of individual amino acids is important as they are key building blocks of biomolecules, bioactive natural products, synthetic polymers, and innovative materials. The high diversity of functional groups present in amino acid-based molecules represents a significant challenge for their selective derivatization Recently, visible light-mediated transformations have emerged as a powerful strategy for achieving chemoselective biomolecule modification. This technique offers numerous advantages over other methods, including a higher selectivity, mild reaction conditions and high functional-group tolerance. This review provides an overview of the most recent methods covering the photoinduced modification for single amino acids and site-selective functionalization in peptides and proteins under mild and even biocompatible conditions. Future challenges and perspectives are discussed beyond the diverse types of photocatalytic transformations that are currently available.

Visible-Light Mediated Carbamoylation of Nitrones under a Continuous Flow Regime

Herein, we report a rapid and scalable continuous-flow photocatalytic approach for the carbamoylation of nitrones. This protocol makes use of readily available 4-amido-1,4 dihydropyridines as carbamoyl radical precursors. The scope of this transformation exhibits high compatibility with complex structures containing amino acids, peptides, and glycosides. Importantly, the developed method allows a photocatalytic synthetic strategy in combination with flow conditions, maximizing the potential and efficiency for the synthesis of valuable α-(N-hydroxy)amino amides.

Photocatalytic Reductive Olefin Hydrodifluoroalkylation Enabled by Tertiary Amine Reductants Compatible with Complex Systems

Noncanonical amino acids (NCAAs) are imperative to many facets of chemistry and biology. Herein, we report a method for the reductive hydrodifluoroalkylation of olefins that utilizes triethylamine base as the terminal reductant. The alkene acceptors include a range of electronically diverse alkenes, chief among them, dehydroalanine in variously protected forms, which provides access to synthetically relevant NCAA scaffolds under mild and general reaction conditions. We have demonstrated that a chiral auxiliary may be incorporated to provide diastereocontrol for pro-stereogenic substrates. Mechanistically motivated experiments provide some insight into the reaction mechanism, which supports a terminal step involving proton transfer for electron-poor olefins, while H atom transfer assisted by a thiol cocatalyst may complete the catalytic cycle for electron-rich olefins. The protocol is found to be compatible with additions to complex molecules, including the natural product thiostrepton.