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Selective functionalization

Shields for small molecules

Nucleic acid aptamers have been employed to shield small molecules so that one among many similar reactive functional groups can be modified. This provides access to new chemical entities with potentially interesting properties while avoiding the use of covalent protecting groups.

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Figure 1: Protecting groups and the new aptamer-based strategy for selective chemical modification.

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Correspondence to Scott K. Silverman.

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Silverman, S. Shields for small molecules. Nature Chem 4, 774–775 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1468

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