Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Chemical Modification Of Silk Protein Via Palladium-Mediated Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions, Racine Santen

WWU Graduate School Collection

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions were used to modify the tyrosine residues on Bombyx mori silkworm silk proteins using a water-soluble palladium catalyst. Utilizing this cross-coupling reaction, molecules with specific functions can be introduced to silk in order to broaden the capabilities of silk proteins in biological systems. Model reactions using tyrosine derivatives were first screened to optimize reaction conditions. For these reactions, a variety of aryl boronic acids, solvents, buffers and temperature ranges were explored. Qualitative information on the reaction progress was collected via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Reactions were then applied …