Triazene-based cleavable linkers

In chemical proteomics, it is often useful to use biorthogonal tools able to covalently react with labelled proteins. For this purpose, click biorthogonal reactions such as copper-assisted or strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC or SPAAC) have emerged as solid companions of any chemical biologist. To enrich labelled proteins (e.g. azide-bearing proteins) that can be obtained via different strategies, we are developing minimal triazene containing linkers, with the following properties: 1) they can be immobilized on a solid matrix, 2) they can react via a click reaction to covalently bind the labelled proteins/peptides allowing subsequent stringent washing  and 3) they can be cleaved by acidic treatment, thanks to the triazene, to release the modified proteins/peptides, which can then be identified and quantified by mass-spectrometry.