Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose | CAS 153252-44-9

Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose is a PEGylated, azide-functionalized, carbohydrate-bearing click chemistry reagent designed for copper-free and bioorthogonal labeling workflows. The structure combines an azide handle for strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) with a multivalent, acetyl-protected β-D-glucose motif that supports targeted conjugation to glycan-recognition platforms. Its PEG4 spacer and multiple acetylated glucose units make it particularly relevant for building glyco-functional probes, coatings, and imaging reagents where controlled presentation of sugar ligands is critical.

1. Glycan-Targeted Probe Labeling

Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose is used to prepare glycan-presenting chemical probes for studying carbohydrate-mediated binding in chemical biology and molecular imaging research. The azide functionality enables efficient attachment to cyclooctyne- or DBCO-modified reporters, surfaces, or nanoparticles under SPAAC-compatible conditions, allowing researchers to maintain the integrity of sugar ligands during conjugation. Multivalent β-D-glucose display helps generate robust, well-defined glycoarchitectures that are commonly incorporated into fluorescent, affinity, or luminescent probe formats for mechanistic studies of lectin–carbohydrate interactions and glycan recognition assays.

2. Multivalent Surface Functionalization

Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose is well suited for functionalizing polymeric materials, hydrogel networks, and sensor surfaces with carbohydrate moieties for downstream binding assays and surface-based characterization. The PEG4 spacer supports more accessible ligand presentation away from the surface, which is important when immobilized sugars must interact with lectins or glycan-binding proteins in a controlled microenvironment. After conjugation via the azide handle to complementary cyclooctyne/DBCO chemistries, the resulting glyco-coated materials are frequently used in platform development for affinity screening, biomolecular capture, and microarray-style studies of carbohydrate binding.

3. SPAAC-Based Imaging Reagent Building Blocks

Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose serves as a practical building block for constructing imaging reagents that require stable, bioorthogonal conjugation to imaging tags such as fluorophores, radiolabeling chelators, or luminescent reporters. The reagent’s azide group allows modular coupling to cyclooctyne-functional imaging components without requiring harsh conditions that could compromise carbohydrate functionality. Researchers often select this type of PEG-spaced, multivalent glucose conjugate to tune ligand density and spatial presentation, improving the interpretability of imaging and binding readouts in molecular imaging tool development.

4. Glyco-Biomaterials for Binding Studies

Azido-PEG4-tetra-Ac-beta-D-glucose is commonly incorporated into glyco-biomaterials designed to investigate how carbohydrate presentation influences biomolecular interactions at interfaces. By using SPAAC-compatible conjugation to functional handles on biomaterial scaffolds, the reagent enables reproducible installation of β-D-glucose motifs into coatings, conjugated polymers, and nanostructured materials. The multivalent acetyl-protected glucose architecture supports the creation of defined glycan-rich environments that are useful for studying lectin adsorption, protein–carbohydrate recognition, and interface-driven binding phenomena in biomaterials science and chemical biology.