Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The Nitro Group as a Masked Electrophile in Covalent Enzyme Inhibition

ACS Chem. Biol., 2018
DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00225

We report the unprecedented reaction between a nitroalkane and an active-site cysteine residue to yield a thiohydroximate adduct. Structural and kinetic evidence suggests the nitro group is activated by conversion to its nitronic acid tautomer within the active site. The nitro group, therefore, shows promise as a masked electrophile in the design of covalent inhibitors targeting binding pockets with appropriately placed cysteine and general acid residues

Introduction of Reactive Thiol Handles into Tyrosine-Tagged Proteins through Enzymatic Oxidative Coupling

Paul Huang, Wendy Cao, Jennifer L. Fetzer, Nicholas S. Dolan, Matthew B. Francis J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c06195...