Metal-Free Selective Modification of Secondary Amides: Application in Late-Stage Diversification of Peptides

Here we solve a long-standing challenge of the site-selective modification of secondary amides and present a simple two-step, metal-free approach to selectively modify a particular secondary amide in molecules containing multiple primary and secondary amides. Density functional theory (DFT) provides insight into the activation of C-N bonds. This study encompasses distinct chemical advances for late-stage modification of peptides thus harnessing the amides for the incorporation of various functional groups into natural and synthetic molecules.