Cyclopropenes are the smallest unsaturated carbocyclic compounds with high strain energy. It is highly reactive in additions, cycloadditions and ring opening reactions. These mimimalist carocylic compounds have witnessed a significant advancement in affinity-based protein labeling and synthesis of photo-cross-linkers suitable for live-cell imaging.
Cyclopropene can be used to target biomolecules in vitro and in live cells. Some of the cyclopropene units can be metabolically introduced into cell surface glycans and subsequently detected with covalent probes. The small size of the reactive tag minimizes steric hindrance and serves as a metabolic reporter group to reveal biological dynamics and function.
