Design, synthesis and fluorescence property evaluation of blue emitting triazole-linked chromene peptidomimetics

A highly efficient "Click with MCR" strategy for the three-step synthesis of two types of blue emitting chromene peptidomimetics is described. The peptidomimetics were synthesized via a copper-catalyzed [3+2] azide-alkyne cycloaddition between chromene alkynes obtained from a three-component reaction and the peptide azides obtained from Ugi or Mannich type multicomponent reactions. The photophysical properties of the peptidomimetics are comparable with commercial fluorophores. Computational studies using drug property descriptors support the possibility of using these molecules for modulating difficult target classes having large, flat, and groove-shaped binding sites.