Fast Method for Clicking Molecules together at Room Temperature

(EPFL, July 24, 2013)

Thiols are sulfur-containing chemical groups widespread in the proteins of the human body and other molecules in biology, medicine and materials science. That makes them ideal targets for connecting molecules like drugs or polymers with these molecules. Methods that achieve this have been termed 'click-chemistry'. Thus far, these methods have been too difficult to be of any use outside the lab. EPFL scientists have found a way to make this connection in five minutes and at room temperature, paving the way to commercial, medical and perhaps industrial applications. The researchers have made the new compound called TIPS-EBX commercially available in collaboration with Sigma-Aldrich.