Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Bioorthogonal Chemical Imaging of Cell Metabolism Regulated by Aromatic Amino Acids
Published on: May 12, 2023
Photochemical Activation of Tertiary Amines for Applications in Studying Cell Physiology
Naeem Asad1, Davide Deodato1, Xin Lan2
1New York University Abu Dhabi , P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Abstract:
Representative tertiary amines were linked to the 8-cyano-7-hydroxyquinolinyl (CyHQ) photoremovable protecting group (PPG) to create photoactivatable forms suitable for use in studying cell physiology. The photoactivation of tamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen, which can be used to activate Cre recombinase and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, demonstrated that highly efficient release of bioactive molecules could be achieved through one- and two-photon excitation (1PE and 2PE). CyHQ-protected anilines underwent a photoaza-Claisen rearrangement instead of releasing amines. Time-resolved spectroscopic studies revealed that photorelease of the tertiary amines was extremely fast, occurring from a singlet excited state of CyHQ on the 70 ps time scale.
Related Concept Videos
Preparation of Amines: Reductive Amination of Aldehydes and Ketones
Preparation of 1° Amines: Hofmann and Curtius Rearrangement Overview
Amines to Amides: Acylation of Amines
Next, the second equivalent of amine serves as a Brønsted base and deprotonates the quaternary...
Physical Properties of Amines
Preparation of 1° Amines: Gabriel Synthesis
Strong bases like NaOH or KOH deprotonate the phthalimide to form the corresponding anion, which acts as a nucleophile. Further, the anion attacks an...
Preparation of 1° Amines: Azide Synthesis
Azide ions act as good nucleophiles and react with unhindered alkyl halides to form alkyl azides. Alkyl azides do not participate in further nucleophilic substitution reactions, thereby eliminating the chances of polyalkylated products. Alkyl azides are reduced by hydride-based reducing agents, like lithium aluminum...

