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Density functional theory (DFT) benchmark studies of 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts often yield differing conclusions, likely due to non-optimal test molecules and non-standardized data acquisition. To address this issue, we carefully selected and measured 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts for 50 structurally diverse small organic molecules containing atoms from only the first two rows of the periodic table. Our NMR dataset, DELTA50, was used to calculate linear scaling factors and to evaluate the accuracy of 73 density functionals, 40 basis sets, 3 solvent models, and 3 gauge-referencing schemes. The best performing DFT methodologies for 1H and 13C NMR chemical shift predictions were WP04/6-311++G(2d,p) and ωB97X-D/def2-SVP, respectively, when combined with the polarizable continuum solvent model (PCM) and gauge-independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method. Geometries should be optimized at the B3LYP-D3/6-311G(d,p) level including the PCM solvent model for the best accuracy. Predictions of 20 organic compounds and natural products from a separate probe set had root-mean-square deviations (RMSD) of 0.07 to 0.19 for 1H and 0.5 to 2.9 for 13C. Maximum deviations were less than 0.5 and 6.5 ppm for 1H and 13C, respectively. 

Selective modification of proteins enables synthesis of antibody-drug conjugates, cellular drug delivery and construction of new materials. Many groups have developed methods for selective N-terminal modification without affecting the side chain of lysine by judicious pH control. This is due to lower basicity of the N-terminus relative to lysine side chains. But none of the methods are capable of selective modification of secondary amines or N-terminal proline, which has similar basicity as lysine. Here, we report a secondary amine selective Petasis (SASP) reaction for selective bioconjugation at N-terminal proline. We exploited the ability of secondary amines to form highly electrophilic iminium ions with aldehydes, which rapidly reacted with nucleophilic organoboronates, resulting in robust labeling of N-terminal proline under biocompatible conditions. This is the first time the Petasis reaction has been utilized for selective modification of secondary amines on completely unprotected peptides and proteins under physiological conditions. Peptide screening results showed that the reaction is highly selective for N-terminal proline. There are no other chemical methods reported in literature that are selective for N-terminal proline in both peptides and proteins. This is a multicomponent reaction leading to the synthesis of doubly functionalized bioconjugates in one step that can be difficult to achieve using other methods. The key advantage of the SASP reaction includes its high chemoselective and stereoselective (>99% de) nature, and it affords dual labeled proteins in one pot. The broad utility of this bioconjugation is highlighted for a variety of peptides and proteins, including aldolase and creatine kinase. 

Abstract Here, we report a novel “CyClick” strategy for the macrocyclization of peptides that works in an exclusively intramolecular fashion thereby precluding the formation of dimers and oligomers via intermolecular reactions. The CyClick chemistry is highly chemoselective for the N‐terminus of the peptide with a C‐terminal aldehyde. In this protocol, the peptide conformation internally directs activation of the backbone amide bond and thereby facilitates formation of a stable 4‐imidazolidinone‐fused cyclic peptide with high diastereoselectivity (>99 %). This method is tolerant to a variety of peptide aldehydes and has been applied for the synthesis of 12‐ to 23‐membered rings with varying amino acid compositions in one pot under mild reaction conditions. The reaction generated peptide macrocycles featuring a 4‐imidazolidinone in their scaffolds, which acts as an endocyclic control element that promotes intramolecular hydrogen bonding and leads to macrocycles with conformationally rigid turn structures.