Synthesis of novel fluorescently labeled sphingomyelin derivatives useful for sphingomyelinase assay

Substrates for the sphingomyelinase enzyme class have been prepared, which contain a fluorescent tag and a biotin moiety. These molecules are useful for development of rapid high throughput assays for sphingomyelinase activity. It was observed that retaining the choline ammonium group (as found in the native sphingomyelinase substrate) in synthetic substrates was critical to retain high cleavage rate by the enzyme.