Aldehyde Residues

The formation of an aldehyde group on a macromolecule can produce an extremely useful derivative for subsequent modification or conjugation reactions. In their native state, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, and oligonucleotides contain no naturally occurring aldehyde residues. There are no aldehydes on amino acid side chains, none introduced by post-translational modifications, and no formyl groups on any of the bases or sugars of DNA and RNA. To create reactive aldehydes at specific locations within these molecules opens the possibility of directing modification reactions toward discrete sites within the macromolecule. 

---

The stereochemical outcome of the reaction is strongly dependent on the nature of the base and the aldehyde condensation time, reaction temperature, and the ETA ratio of the azaenolate. The enantioselectivity of the reaction increases with increasing bulk of the aldehyde residue. 

Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage with Oxidation to Aldehyde Residues... 

The principal side reaction to epoxide coupling is hydrolysis. Particularly at acid pH values, the epoxide ring can hydrolyze to form adjacent hydroxyls. This diol can be oxidized with periodate to create a terminal aldehyde residue with loss of one molecule of formaldehyde (Chapter 1, Section 4.4). The aldehyde then can be used in reductive amination reactions. The reaction of an epoxide group with an ammonium ion generates a terminal primary amine group that also can be used for further derivatization. 

Figure 4.30 Carbohydrazide can be used to transform an aldehyde residue into a hydrazide group.

The carbonyl-reactive group on these crosslinkers is a hydrazide that can form hydrazone bonds with aldehyde residues. To utilize this functional group with carbohydrate-containing molecules, the sugars first must be mildly oxidized to contain aldehyde groups by treatment with sodium periodate. Oxidation with this compound will cleave adjacent carbon-carbon bonds which possess hydroxyl groups, as are abundant in polysaccharide molecules (Chapter 1, Sections 2 and 4.4). 

Generalized protocols for the use of hydrazine probes reactive toward aldehyde residues can be found in Section 1, this chapter. These procedures are directed at the labeling of cell-surface... 

Hydrazide groups react with aldehyde and ketone groups to form hydrazone linkages (Chapter 2, Section 5.1). Three BODIPY derivatives are available that contain a hydrazine group modification of carboxylate side chains. Biomolecules such as proteins that don t normally possess aldehyde residues can be modified to contain them by a number of chemical means (Chapter 1, Section 4.4). 

Hapten molecules containing aldehyde residues may be crosslinked to carrier molecules by use of reductive animation (Chapter 3, Section 4). At alkaline pH values, the aldehyde groups form intermediate Schiff bases with available amine groups on the carrier. Reduction of the resultant Schiff bases with sodium cyanoborohydride or sodium borohydride creates a stable conjugate held together by secondary amine bonds. 

Figure 20.8 Enzymes that are glycoproteins like HRP may be oxidized with sodium periodate to produce reactive aldehyde residues. Conjugation with an antibody then may be done by reductive animation using sodium cyanoborohydride.

Figure 22.10 Hydroxylic-containing lipid components, such as PG, may be oxidized with sodium periodate to produce aldehyde residues. Modification with amine-containing molecules then may take place using reductive amination.

Figure 23.10 Glycoproteins may be oxidized with sodium periodate to generate aldehyde residues. These may be specifically labeled using a hydrazide-streptavidin derivative through hydrazone bond formation. Subsequent detection may be done using biotinylated enzymes.

Molecules containing polysaccharide chains may be oxidized to possess reactive aldehyde residues by treatment with sodium periodate. Any adjacent carbon atoms containing hydroxyl groups will be affected, cleaving the carbon-carbon bond and transforming the hydroxyls into... 

A small proportion of O-D-glucosylribitol was produced directly by hydrolysis of the teichoic acid with alkali ( see Fig. 16) this product is identical with that obtained by dephosphorylation of the hydrolysis mixture. The major products of such a hydrolysis with alkali were the isomeric monophosphates (58) and (59), in which R = 0-D-glucopyranosyl, both of which gave the O-D-glucosylribitol on enzymic dephosphorylation. The isomer (58) reduced 3 molar proportions of periodate, and the ribitol residue was oxidized, whereas the isomer (59) reduced 2 molar proportions of periodate, the ribitol residue being resistant to oxidation. Small proportions of the diphosphates (56) and (57) were also produced. Oxidation of the diphosphate (57) with periodate, followed by treatment with alkali to remove the aldehydic residues, gave a ribitol diphosphate. 

---