Click chemistry – Revolutionary tools for modern biochemistry
Click chemistry and especially the copper catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) made it possible for the first time to selectively label biomolecules under physiological conditions. This is possible because the CuAAC relies on azide and alkynes, both endogenously not present in biomolecules, to form a stable triazole linkage between (bio)-molecules. NHS-ester reactions instead use an amine as reaction partner, a functional group which is omnipresent on biomolecules, and therefore specific labeling is not possible.
Azides and alkynes are both small functional groups which do not interact with any other functional group present in life resulting in click chemistry by the CuAAC to be a fully bio-orthogonal reaction. CuAAC can be performed in an aqueous environment at room temperature to match the last criteria to be considered click chemistry.
baseclick discovered the potential of CuAAC as click chemistry early and was founded back in 2008 with the aim of using the potential of click chemistry to create simple applications for end users. Through the easy setup of click chemistry baseclick managed to develop products to enable the performance click chemistry reactions to all scientists and not only chemists.
baseclick’s experience with click chemistry should make it your trusted partner for starting your experiments based on click chemistry.
What is click chemistry?
Click chemistry, especially the CuAAC reaction, is a highly effective reaction which enables a bunch of new possibilities in chemistry due to the following advantages.
-High Efficiency: All reactions considered click chemistry especially the CuAAC reaction stand out due to their high efficiency. This is achieved by the high selectivity of click chemistry in combination with a fast reaction procedure already at room temperature and a straightforward reaction pathway. These facts lead to little to none formed byproducts which often eliminate the need for purification. This high efficiency makes click chemistry the ideal reaction type for labeling reaction in biochemistry as well as for large scale production in synthesis chemistry or in drug synthesis.
-High Selectivity: Both functional groups included in the CuAAC click chemistry reaction, the azide and the alkyne, do not react with any other functional group available under physical condition. Therefore, their click chemistry reaction is highly selective and no side reactions with other reaction partners could be observed. This click chemistry reaction additionally can only form one reaction product, a 1,4-substiuted triazole, as a clean product often allowing direct follow up reactions without a purification step necessary.
-High Yields: The CuAAC click chemistry reactions is known for allowing high yields. This click chemistry reaction often reaches quantitative yields and always achieves high yields. Therefore, CuAAC should be chosen whenever a reaction step requires high yields for maximizing product output as needed in drug synthesis or in material development. The high yields of click chemistry reactions in combination with the potential performance in aqueous environment makes click chemistry a key step in the transformation to greener chemistry.
-Mild Reaction Conditions: the possibility to perform the CuAAC click chemistry reaction at low temperature without the need for reactive reaction in an aqueous environment is ideal for performing reactions on sensitive substrates such as proteins or RNA which degrade under harsher conditions.
-Versatility: Since performing CuAAC click chemistry reactions only requires an azide and a terminal alkyne it can be used for a wide range of substrates. This leads to a versatility of different scientific fields where click chemistry could be used form drug discovery, to polymer synthesis, material science, drug development and many more. CuAAC click chemistry can also be used to create divers chemical libraries quickly with lower costs to accelerate many research and development processes.
DNA/RNA labeling with click chemistry
The usage of Click Chemistry and especially the CuAAC click reaction empowered new possibilities that revolutionized nucleic acid research. Click chemistry enabled for the first time the efficient, mild and sufficient labeling of nucleic acids in aqueous conditions to better understand their behavior. Another huge enhancement to nucleic acid research is that click chemistry allows them to conjugate them to all kinds of different reaction partners as sugar-based targeting moieties or to connect nucleic acids to other biomolecules to form antibody drug conjugate alike species. baseclick has developed several sugar-based structures that can be purchased and directly assembled to the nucleic acids of choice by the end user via click chemistry.
baseclick click chemistry solutions
baseclick is a pioneer in the development of click chemistry since the early development of the concept. baseclick is constantly working on innovations to existing usages of click chemistry and meanwhile trying to innovate the potential of click chemistry for developing new applications. baseclick offers a broad and innovative range of click chemistry products of excellent quality reaching from chemical reagent to advanced kits for diverse biological applications such as sequencing or modified mRNA production and labeling based on click chemistry. baseclick is offering also support for customers in all aspects of click chemistry from early-stage experiment design to hands-on support to your projects.
These attributes should make baseclick your preferred choice for reliable and efficient solutions based on click chemistry.
Applications of click chemistry in various fields
Click chemistry has changed or enabled new possibilities in various research fields due to its outstanding reaction pattern. Click chemistry is fast, reliable, mild and completely biocompatible. Therefore, click chemistry changed fields such as biomedical research, chemical biology, radiochemistry, or material science.
- Biomedical Research: Due to its outstanding performance in combination with a low-cost set-up click chemistry is extensively used in drug discovery and development to create complex molecules such as drug-like particles, anti-body drug conjugates or target delivery systems with high specificity in high yields without side products.
- Chemical Biology: The possibility to label biomolecules in mild conditions by click chemistry enabled sufficient labeling without the fear of degradation. These labels introduced by click chemistry made it possible to study biological processes more accurately which is crucial for better understanding of cellular mechanisms.
- Radiochemistry: Click chemistry enables the possibility to click isotopically labeled reporter molecules highly specific to their targeting aim improving the precision and effectiveness of diagnostic methods or cancer treatment.
- Material science: The highly specific and controlled click chemistry reaction made it possible to design modular reaction networks to assemble new materials with unique properties such as polymers, hydrogels or nanomaterials.
Click Chemistry is also an essential tool for the usage of newly developed processes as in biorthogonal chemistry. Here it is needed for the development of new diagnostic tools and therapies. The click chemistry-based strain promoted azide alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) is an ideal alternative for CuAAC to perform reactions in living organisms which do not tolerate the copper catalyst.
baseclick is providing tools and chemicals to enhance your research in all the mentioned topics ranging from DNA/RNA labeling reagents or kits to provide the click chemistry reaction environment to click chemistry modified custom specific mRNA synthesis.
Drug discovery and click chemistry
Click chemistry accelerates drug development by its unique parameters as click chemistry´s speed and efficiency combined with its high selectivity and specificity. Therefore, click chemistry is an efficient synthesis tool that reduces failure rates in early stages of drug development by enabling stable synthesis pathways. In combination with the bio-orthogonality of click chemistry, click chemistry is a possibility to streamline the synthesis of complex targets and improve their synthesis making a valuable asset for pharmaceutical industry. baseclick uses click chemistry, among other techniques, to provide more efficient sequencing kits for DNA and RNA, for combining ligands with drugs as siRNAs or by modifying mRNA for increased stability of better traceability.
Click chemistry in biomedical imaging
Click chemistry with its superior reaction properties as high selectivity and efficiency, minimal by-products under mild reaction conditions make click chemistry the perfect reaction for creating probes for imaging analysis. Click chemistry is a very versatile reaction which can be used to label a wide variety of biomolecules in aqueous conditions with dyes to prepare imaging probes. The mild aqueous reaction conditions of click chemistry minimize the damages to the bio-samples for enhanced quality of the images. The fast kinetics of click chemistry enable also specialized processes as real-time imaging of dynamic processes in living cells for tracking the movement and interaction of biomolecules in dynamic processes. baseclick uses click chemistry e.g. to provide a kit solution to analyze cell proliferation by imaging for customers.
Getting started with click chemistry tools
Click chemistry and especially the CuAAC reaction is a chemical reaction that is easy to set-up due to its mild conditions and tolerance of water. Due to the simplicity of click chemistry it is the ideal chemical reaction for non-chemists to perform when a chemical reaction is needed for e.g. the labeling of biomolecules. baseclick has developed whole kits systems to perform the labeling reactions e.g. cell proliferation assays based on EdU. When more customized reactions should be performed, baseclick has developed Oligo Link kits, which provide the ideal environment to link two Oligos together utilizing click chemistry, but the Oligo Link Kit can also be used to provide a click environment for all click reactions to biomolecules. baseclick also provides all necessary chemicals to set up your own click chemistry reaction as well as protocols that can be used as starting conditions for the optimization of your click chemistry.
Premium quality click chemistry reagents
Click Chemistry is a reaction which does not form any side products and therefore the reaction products can often be used without any further purification steps. Impurities of starting materials can interfere with this reaction and lead to side products or that the reaction product has to be purified from the impurities of the starting materials or reaction catalysts. Impurities can also interfere with sensitive biomolecules that should be clicked resulting in significantly lower yields of click chemistry. High purity of the chemicals used for click chemistry is also a key necessity for reproducibility of the reaction. baseclick is offering the necessary chemicals for click chemistry or to provide the environment for click chemistry like catalysts, solvents or ligands, in excellent quality to support your research with the best products possible.