Design of oligothiophene-based tetrazoles for laser-triggered photoclick chemistry in living cells

A 405 nm light-activatable terthiophene-based tetrazole was designed that reacts with a fumarate dipolarophile with the second-order rate constant k2 exceeding 103 M−1 s−1. The utility of this laser-activatable tetrazole in imaging microtubules in a spatiotemporally controlled manner in live cells was demonstrated.