Bioorthogonal Azide–Thioalkyne Cycloaddition Catalyzed by Photoactivatable Ruthenium(II) Complexes

Tailored ruthenium sandwich complexes bearing photoresponsive arene ligands can efficiently promote azide–thioalkyne cycloaddition (RuAtAC) when irradiated with UV light. The reactions be performed in a bioorthogonal manner aqueous mixtures containing biological components. strategy also applied for the selective modification of biopolymers, such as DNA or peptides. Importantly, this ruthenium-based technology and standard copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne (CuAAC) proved to compatible mutually orthogonal.