2-Chloro-4-nitrophenyl a-D-glucopyranoside

2-Chloro-4-nitrophenyl a-D-glucopyranoside is an analog of D-glucose. It is used as a substrate to study the metabolic pathways in microbial cells. It can be used as a building block for the synthesis of nucleic acid molecules, such as RNA or DNA. This compound is also used to create expression vectors and other additives that are needed for genetic engineering experiments. 2-Chloro-4-nitrophenyl a-D-glucopyranoside has been shown to inhibit the growth of Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is an acidophilic bacterium that metabolizes glutamic acid and ammonium ions into glutamate and ammonium chloride.

Carbohydrates conjugated with 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl (CNP) serve as chromogenic substrates in assays for enzymes that release CNP from the conjugated carbohydrate. For example, CNP-β-D-maltoheptaoside and CNP-α-maltotrioside are chromogenic substrates for α-amylase. 2-Chloro-4-nitrophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside is a conjugate of CNP and α-D-glucose. The related conjugate between CNP and β-D-glucose, 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl β-D-glucopyranoside, is used as a chromogenic substrate for glycosyltransferases. This product is a chromogenic substrate for enzymes that target the linkage between CNP and α-D-glucose.