Fluorescent cationic fluorinated oxazoliniums for cysteine bioconjugation via an SNAr reaction

Abstract

Using cationic fluorinated oxazolinium compounds, fluorescent cysteine-selective S_NAr bioconjugation proceeds under mild conditions, resulting in fluorescent-labelled peptides and proteins with moderate to excellent conversions of up to 99%. Live cell imaging studies reveal good compatibility of these oxazoliniums as fluorescent dyes for mitochondrial targeting.