Biomimetic α-selective ribosylation enables two-step modular synthesis of biologically important ADP-ribosylated peptides

The α-type ADP-ribosylated peptides represent a class of important molecular tools in the field of protein ADP-ribosylation, however, they are difficult to access because of their inherent complicated structures and the lack of effective synthetic tools. In this paper, we present a biomimetic α-selective ribosylation reaction to synthesize a key intermediate, α-ADP-ribosyl azide, directly from native β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in a clean ionic liquid system. This reaction in tandem with click chemistry then offers a two-step modular synthesis of α-ADP-ribosylated peptides. These syntheses can be performed open air in eppendorf tubes, without the need for specialized instruments or training. Importantly, we demonstrate that the synthesized α-ADP-ribosylated peptides show high binding affinity and desirable stability for enriching protein partners, and reactivity in post-stage poly ADP-ribosylations. Owing to their simple chemistry and multidimensional bio-applications, the presented methods may provide a powerful platform to produce general molecular tools for the study of protein ADP-ribosylation. ADP-ribosylated peptides are important molecular tools, however, the lack of effective synthetic methods hinders the access to their complex structures. Here, the authors present a biomimetic α-selective ribosylation reaction coupled with click chemistry ultimately providing a two-step modular synthesis of α-ADP-ribosylated peptides.