Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Chemoselective Modification of Viral Surfaces via Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry
Published on: August 19, 2012
The growing applications of click chemistry
John E Moses1, Adam D Moorhouse
1Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Chemistry, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London, UK WC1N 1AX. john.moses@pharmacy.ac.uk
Abstract:
Click chemistry, the subject of this tutorial review, is a modular synthetic approach towards the assembly of new molecular entities. This powerful strategy relies mainly upon the construction of carbon-heteroatom bonds using spring-loaded reactants. Its growing number of applications are found in nearly all areas of modern chemistry from drug discovery to materials science. The copper(I)-catalysed 1,2,3-triazole forming reaction between azides and terminal alkynes has become the gold standard of click chemistry due to its reliability, specificity and biocompatibility.
Related Concept Videos
Photoluminescence: Applications
Fast Reactions
Chemical Reactions
Chemical Reactions Rearrange Atoms into New Substances
A chemical reaction takes starting materials—the reactants—and changes them into different...
Applications of IR Spectroscopy: Overview
Introduction to Chemical Reactions
Introduction to Enzymes
Most enzymes are proteins that speed up biochemical reactions without being consumed. Enzymes contain one or more active sites that bind the substrates and convert them into products. Many enzymes also...

