Modification with 2-bromoethylamine

Bromoethylamine may undergo two reaction pathways in its modification of sulfhydryl groups in proteins (Fig. 84). In the first scheme, the thiolate anion of cysteine attacks the No. 2 carbon of 2-bromoethylamine to release the halogen and form a thioether bond (Lindley, 1956). This straightforward reaction mechanism is similar to the modification of sulfhydryls with iodoacetate (Section 4.2). In a two-step, secondary... 

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