Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: Due to the growing interest in small molecules that could help in understanding protein–protein interactions based on signal transduction, the demand for the generation of small-molecule libraries that are inspired by bioactive natural products has grown significantly. Many of these pathways are highly complex and present tremendous challenges with the use of classical tools. A rapid access to natural product-like small molecules having structural complexity and diversity is crucial for systematically dissecting the functions of complex protein networking and understanding cell signaling pathways. The complex nature, the three-dimensional architecture, and the number of protein binding functional groups presented in three-dimensional arrays are some of the attractive features to incorporate in small-molecule chemical probes to be used as modulators of protein function.