Three N‐Boc‐protected amino acids, l‐serine, l‐aspartic, and l‐glutamic acid, were either converted into their methyl azidoalkanoates or various alkynes via Bestmann‐Ohira strategy or via reaction with propargylamine and propargyl bromide, respectively. The Cu‐catalyzed click reaction provided a library of amino acid based triazoles, which were further N‐methylated to triazolium iodides or deprotected and precipitated as free amino acid triazole dihydrochlorides. The biological properties of all derivatives were investigated by cytotoxicity assay (against L929 mouse fibroblasts) and broth microdilution method (E. coli ΔTolC and S. aureus). First results reveal complete inactivity for triazolium iodides with cell viabilities and microbial growths nearly 100 %, indicating them as possible analogs of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs).

Amino acid derivatives with a central cationic heterocyclic core (e.g., imidazolium) are biologically relevant cross-linkers of proteins and advanced glycation end (AGE) products. Here, imidazolium-containing cross-linkers were synthesized from imidazole or histidine by N-alkylation employing aspartate- and glutamate-derived mesylates as key step. Biological investigations were carried out to probe the biocompatibility of these compounds.