Accessing diverse bicyclic peptide conformations using 1,2,3-TBMB as a linker

Abstract

Bicyclic peptides are a powerful modality for engaging challenging drug targets such as protein–protein interactions. Here, we use 1,2,3-tris(bromomethyl)benzene (1,2,3-TBMB) to access bicyclic peptides with diverse conformations that differ from conventional bicyclisation products formed with 1,3,5-TBMB. Bicyclisation at cysteine residues under aqueous buffer conditions proceeds efficiently, with broad substrate scope, compatibility with high-throughput screening, and clean conversion (>90%) for 96 of the 115 peptides tested. We envisage that the 1,2,3-TBMB linker will be applicable to a variety of peptide screening techniques in drug discovery.