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Updated: May 17, 2026

Chemoselective Modification of Viral Surfaces via Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry
Published on: August 19, 2012
Chemical architecture and applications of nucleic acid derivatives containing 1,2,3-triazole functionalities
Tim Efthymiou1, Wei Gong, Jean-Paul Desaulniers
1Faculty of Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe St N, Oshawa, ON L1H 7K4, Canada.
Abstract:
There is considerable attention directed at chemically modifying nucleic acids with robust functional groups in order to alter their properties. Since the breakthrough of copper-assisted azide-alkyne cycloadditions (CuAAC), there have been several reports describing the synthesis and properties of novel triazole-modified nucleic acid derivatives for potential downstream DNA- and RNA-based applications. This review will focus on highlighting representative novel nucleic acid molecular structures that have been synthesized via the “click” azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Many of these derivatives show compatibility for various applications that involve enzymatic transformation, nucleic acid hybridization, molecular tagging and purification, and gene silencing. The details of these applications are discussed. In conclusion, the future of nucleic acid analogues functionalized with triazoles is promising.
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