Intracellular Synthesis of Indoles Enabled by Visible-Light Photocatalysis
Cinzia D’Avino, Sara Gutiérrez, Max J. Feldhaus, María Tomás‐Gamasa, José L. Mascareñas
Abstract
Performing abiotic synthetic transformations in live cell environments represents a new, promising approach to interrogate and manipulate biology and to uncover new types of biomedical tools. We now found that photocatalytic bond-forming reactions can be added to the toolbox of bioorthogonal synthetic chemistry. Specifically, we demonstrate that exogenous styryl aryl azides can be converted into indoles inside living mammalian cells under photocatalytic conditions.
Topics & Concepts
ChemistryPhotocatalysisBioorthogonal chemistryIntracellularToolboxNanotechnologyArylCombinatorial chemistryCatalysisBiochemistryOrganic chemistryClick chemistryAlkylProgramming languageMaterials scienceComputer scienceClick Chemistry and ApplicationsRadical Photochemical ReactionsSynthesis and Catalytic Reactions