RSC Adv. 2026 Aug 5. doi: 10.1039/d6ra05917a. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Carboxylic acids are common functional handles in peptides and drug molecules, but their direct use for DBM derivatization remains limited. Herein, a bromide-mediated electrochemical α-acyloxylation of dibenzoylmethane (DBM) with amino acid-, peptide-, and drug-derived carboxylic acids is described. The reaction proceeds in an undivided cell under mild conditions, providing DBM-amino acid, DBM-peptide, and DBM-drug conjugates through C-O bond formation. Various amino acids, DBM derivatives, drug acids, dipeptides, and bioactive peptides are tolerated. Mechanistic studies support α-bromination of DBM followed by carboxylate substitution. Representative peptide conjugation improves the aqueous behaviour of DBM.

PMID:42559229 | PMC:PMC13440467 | DOI:10.1039/d6ra05917a