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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Chemical Modification of the Tryptophan Residue in a Recombinant Ca2+-ATPase N-domain for Studying Tryptophan-ANS FRET
Published on: October 9, 2021
Gold-catalyzed direct alkynylation of tryptophan in peptides using TIPS-EBX
Gergely L Tolnai1, Jonathan P Brand2, Jerome Waser3
1Laboratory of Catalysis and Organic Synthesis, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL SB ISIC LCSO, BCH 4306, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Organic Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
The selective functionalization of peptides containing only natural amino acids is important for the modification of biomolecules. In particular, the installation of an alkyne as a useful handle for bioconjugation is highly attractive, but the use of a carbon linker is usually required. Herein, we report the gold-catalyzed direct alkynylation of tryptophan in peptides using the hypervalent iodine reagent TIPS-EBX (1-[(triisopropylsilyl)ethynyl]-1,2-benziodoxol-3(1H)-one). The reaction proceeded in 50-78% yield under mild conditions and could be applied to peptides containing other nucleophilic and aromatic amino acids, such as serine, phenylalanine or tyrosine.
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