Irreversible Protein Labeling by Paal-Knorr Conjugation

The application of new chemical reactions in a biological context has advanced bioconjugation methods for both fundamental research and commercial arenas. Recent adaptations of reactions such as Huisgen 1,3-dipolar or Diels-Alder cycloadditions have enabled the labeling of specific residues in biomolecules by the attachment of molecules carrying azides, alkynes, or strained alkenes. Although these are fundamental tools, there is a need for the discovery of reactions that can label native proteins. We report herein the adaptation of the Paal-Knorr reaction to label lysine residues in proteins via pyrrole linkages.