Diazo compounds for the customization of important biomolecules

The selective modification of native biomolecules such as nucleic acid, signaling molecules, and peptides offers new tools for investigation biological processes. These chemically modified analogs, radiolabeled analogs, fluorescent or affinity tags can be used to label, modify, or pull-down a molecule of interest to probe its function. Among these chemical modifications, diazo compounds are the most versatile building blocks for the customization of diverse biomolecules. In chapter 1, I discuss briefly the properties of diazo compounds and their application in chemistry and chemical biology. The transition-metal catalyzed XHI reaction of stabilized diazo compounds is used later in chapter 2 and the alkylation reaction of unstabilized diazo compounds with BrØnsted acids is used in chapter 3.