Iminoboronates as Dual‐Purpose Linkers in Chemical Probe Development

Abstract Chemical probes that covalently modify proteins of interest are powerful tools for the research of biological processes. Important in the design of a probe is the choice of reactive group that forms the covalent bond, as it decides the success of a probe. However, choosing the right reactive group is not a simple feat and methodologies for expedient screening of different groups are needed. We herein report a modular approach that allows easy coupling of a reactive group to a ligand. α‐Nucleophile ligands are combined with 2‐formylphenylboronic acid derived reactive groups to form iminoboronate probes that selectively label their target proteins. A transimination reaction on the labeled proteins with an α‐amino hydrazide provides further modification, for example to introduce a fluorophore.