Cucurbit[6]uril-Promoted Click Chemistry for Protein Modification

Azide-alkyne cycloaddition is a powerful reaction for the formation of bioconjugates. When catalyzed by Cu(I) or strain promotion, this cycloaddition is considered to be a "click" reaction with many applications in chemical biology and materials science. We report a new type of azide-alkyne click chemistry for the synthesis of protein conjugates using cucurbit[6]uril (CB6) supramolecular chemistry. CB6-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition has been previously used for the synthesis of rotaxanes but has not been applied to the development of complex bioconjugates. By developing new substrates for CB6 click that do not contain any cross-reactive functional groups and by optimizing reaction conditions, we converted CB6 click chemistry from a rotaxane synthesis tool into a useful bioconjugation technique. Using these new parameters, we synthesized a series of protein conjugates including protein-peptide, protein-DNA, protein-polymer, and protein-drug conjugates. We further demonstrated that CB6 click can be used in conjunction with strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition to generate distinct bioconjugates in protein mixtures. CB6 click is a promising new reaction for the development of protein conjugates and can be applied toward the synthesis of complex biomaterials for a wide range of applications.