Expanding the scope of strained-alkyne chemistry: a protection-deprotection strategy via the formation of a dicobalt-hexacarbonyl complex

A protection-deprotection strategy for strained alkynes used for bioorthogonal chemistry is reported. A strained alkyne can be protected with dicobalt-octacarbonyl and we demonstrate for the first time that a strained alkyne can be re-formed and isolated under mild reaction conditions for further bioorthogonal reactivity. The protection-deprotection strategy herein reported will expand the versatility of strained alkynes for the preparation of substrates in chemical biology and materials applications.