A comparative study of the self-immolation of para-aminobenzylalcohol and hemithioaminal-based linkers in the context of protease-sensitive fluorogenic probes

This study focuses on the disassembly-behavior of self-immolative pro-fluorescent linkers under physiological conditions and through an enzyme-initiated domino reaction. The targeted linkers are based on para-aminobenzylalcohol (PABA) or hemithioaminal derivatives of para-carboxybenzaldehyde or glyoxilic acid. We found that a fine tuning of the kinetic properties could be obtained through the modulation of the linker structure, giving either a fast signal response or free-adaptable systems suitable for the design of protease-sensitive fluorogenic probes or prodrug systems.