Functionality Creating Reagents (253)

In bioconjugation, functional groups facilitate the covalent bonding of two or more molecules. Functional reagents are employed to introduce reactive groups to target molecules or linkers. Despite the wide variety of molecules, most bioconjugation methods focus on four key chemical targets on target molecules: Primary amines (-NH2), which can be crosslinked using NHS (N-hydroxysuccinimide) esters or water-soluble Sulfo-NHS esters; Carboxyl groups (-COOH), which can form peptide bonds with amino groups; Thiol/sulfhydryl groups (-SH), which can be linked via disulfide bonds (-SS-); and Aldehyde groups (-CHO), typically produced by oxidizing carbohydrate groups in molecules like glycoproteins, which can then be crosslinked with amino or hydrazine-containing molecules.