Metal complex catalysts broaden bioorthogonal reactions

Bioorthogonal reactions involving transition metals have diversified applications in imaging, drug development, chemical catalysis and other fields. Transition metals used to catalyze the bioorthogonal reaction mainly include ruthenium, palladium, copper, and gold. However, the great potential for translational applications of bioorthogonal reaction needs to be further expanded and their reaction efficiency should be improved. Therefore, it is an urgent need for the development of this field to find more suitable catalysts to efficiently catalyze existing biological orthogonal reactions and expand the types of biological orthogonal reactions. Thus, this review not only summarizes those transition metal complexes-based catalysts participating in bioorthogonal reaction and some bioorthogonal reactions involving transition metals inside the cells, but also sheds light into the discovery of new transition metal complexes and their future development in applications.