Synthesis and Evaluation of O2-Derived Diazeniumdiolates Activatable via Bioorthogonal Chemistry Reactions in Living Cells.

A class of O2-alkyl derived diazeniumdiolates 3a-f and 4a-c were designed and synthesized as new bioorthogonal NO precursors, which can be effectively uncaged in the presence of a palladium catalyst via bioorthogonal bond cleavage reactions to generate NO in living cancer cells, eliciting potent antiproliferative activity.