Maleimides are often used for biomolecular conjugation with thiols. An underappreciated aspect of the imido group in a maleimide conjugate is its susceptibility to spontaneous hydrolysis, resulting in undesirable heterogeneity. Here, a chromophoric maleimide is used to demonstrate that both molybdate and chromate catalyze the hydrolysis of an imido group near neutral pH. Tungstate and 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine are less effective as catalysts. This work reveals a new mode of chemical reactivity for molybdate and chromate, and provides a strategy for decreasing the heterogeneity of bioconjugates derived from maleimides.Chemoselective bioconjugation has revolutionized functional genomics, proteomics, and glycomics 1 . Reactions, such as the Staudinger ligation, 2 the Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, 3 carbonyl group condensation reactions, 4 and maleimide conjugation 5 enable the site-specific labeling of biomolecules, and their uniform immobilization to generate microarrays.Bioconjugation via maleimides is especially common. This reaction involves the Michael addition of a biomolecular thiolate, often from the side chain of a cysteine residue, to a maleimide to form a succinimidyl thioether. 6, 7 The reaction proceeds rapidly and in high yield in neutral aqueous solutions at room temperature, making it ideal for biological applications.An underappreciated aspect of maleimides and succinimides is the tendency of their imido groups to undergo spontaneous hydrolysis. 8, 9 As water can attack either of the two carbons of the imido group, hydrolysis of a succinimidyl thioether produces isomeric succinamic acid thioethers. Accordingly, a thiol-conjugated maleimide actually consists of a mixture of many species, some having an additional carboxylic acid that can ionize near neutral pH. As hydrolysis proceeds over time, the concentrations of these species change, introducing yet another complexity.The heterogeneity of succinimidyl thioethers can alter the activity of bioconjugates and convolute the interpretation of experimental data. For example, an N-(1-pyrene)maleimideconjugate of α,α-tropomyosin was observed to hydrolyze in aqueous solution, causing a timedependent increase in fluorescence. 10 The cellular internalization of some peptides and proteins relies on their cationic charge, 11 and the presence of a hydrolyzed succinimidyl thioether could complicate data analysis by reducing that charge. Surface-based assays can be especially sensitive to heterogeneity within the immobilized species. For example, the *Corresponding author at present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 433 Babcock Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1544; e-mail: raines@biochem.wisc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable for...