540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften
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We developed three bathochromic, green-light activatable, photolabile protecting groups based on a nitrodibenzofuran (NDBF) core with D-π-A push–pull structures. Variation of donor substituents (D) at the favored ring position enabled us to observe their impact on the photolysis quantum yields. Comparing our new azetidinyl-NDBF (Az-NDBF) photolabile protecting group with our earlier published DMA-NDBF, we obtained insight into its excitation-specific photochemistry. While the “two-photon-only” cage DMA-NDBF was inert against one-photon excitation (1PE) in the visible spectral range, we were able to efficiently release glutamic acid from azetidinyl-NDBF with irradiation at 420 and 530 nm. Thus, a minimal change (a cyclization adding only one carbon atom) resulted in a drastically changed photochemical behavior, which enables photolysis in the green part of the spectrum.
Photolabile protecting groups are widely used to trigger oligonucleotide activity. The ON/OFF‐amplitude is a critical parameter. An experimental setup has been developed to identify protecting group derivatives with superior caging properties. Bulky rests are attached to the cage moiety via Cu‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition post‐synthetically on DNA. Interestingly, the decrease in melting temperature upon introducing o‐nitrobenzyl‐caged (NPBY‐) and diethylaminocoumarin‐cages (DEACM‐) in DNA duplexes reaches a limiting value. NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize individual base‐pair stabilities and determine experimental structures of a selected number of photocaged DNA molecules. The experimental structures agree well with structures predicted by MD simulations. Combined, the structural data indicate that once a sterically demanding group is added to generate a tri‐substituted carbon, the sterically less demanding cage moiety points towards the neighboring nucleoside and the bulkier substituents remain in the major groove.