Click Chemistry Assembly of G-quadruplex Ligands Incorporating a Diarylurea Scaffold and Triazole Linkers

A series of diarylurea ligands were designed to interact selectively with G-quadruplexes and were synthesised using copper(I) catalysed 'click' chemistry to incorporate the 1,4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole ring into the core of the ligands; the optimal ligands demonstrate a high degree of selective telomeric G-quadruplex stabilisation and are not cytotoxic in several cancer cell lines.