Synthesis and photochemical reactivity of caged glutamates with a π-extended coumarin chromophore as a photolabile protecting group

‘Caging’ and ‘uncaging’ bioactive substrates are key techniques in studying a wide variety of biological processes. In the present study, two-types of novel caged glutamates with a two-photon absorption (TPA) core, that is, π-extended coumarin, were synthesized and their photochemical release of glutamate was analyzed. The high yields of glutamate (>92%) were observed in the photolysis of compounds 1 and 10, respectively.