Tetrazine amino acids are ideal click chemistry reagents that can be incorporated into proteins for carrying out biorthogonal ligations. Their reaction at ambient temperatures with a variety of trans-cyclooctene (TCO)-labeling reagents in aqueous buffers (including inside a cell) can be very rapid and specific, leading to highly selective reactions that go to completion. The paper first describing these ideal features of tetrazine amino acids in mammalian cells is: Blizzard et al (2015) “Ideal Bioorthogonal Reactions Using A Site-Specifically Encoded Tetrazine Amino Acid” J Am Chem Soc 137, 10044.

Currently available for purchase from the GCE center are:

• Tet2-Et (product #1001): recommended for use in proteins being expressed in E. coli. (see Eddins et al. (2023) Bioconjug Chem 34:2243)
• Tet2-Me (product #1002): also available for use in proteins being expressed in E. coli, but with GCE systems that do not work as well as those for Tet2-Et. (see Blizzard et al (2015) J Am Chem Soc 137, 10044)
• Tet3-butyl (product #1003): recommended for use in proteins being expressed in mammalian cells (see Jang et al. (2020) J Am Chem Soc 142, 7245)

All are priced at $1 per mg, with a 25 mg minimum and the purchaser covering shipping costs. These compounds are intended for academic research purposes only. To place an order, please email gce4all-center@oregonstate.edu using “Tetrazine ncAA order” as your subject and specifying what you would like to order and your mailing address.