Gold-mediated reactions and photocatalytic transformations in biological environments

Abstract

This thesis explores the development of gold catalyzed and photocatalytic bioorthogonal reactions under physiologically relevant conditions. Gold catalysis enables mild hydrolysis of ynamides to amides and cascade reactions from anilines to carbazoles, demonstrating good performance in aqueous and biologically relevant media. Photocatalytic transformations allow the formation of indoles from aryl azides with excellent biocompatibility, including cell selective imaging through peptide photocatalyst conjugates. Overall, these results highlight strategies for the in situ generation of bioactive scaffolds in living systems, expanding the toolbox for bioorthogonal chemistry.