We describe the synthesis of the photolabile analog of n-octylglucoside (OG), 6C-(azimethyl)octylglucoside (diazirino-octylglucoside, DOG). This diazirino derivative (lambda max = 335 nm) can be activated with long-wavelength UV to generate a highly reactive carbene, an intermediate suitable for a covalent ligand-receptor linkage. In inhibitor studies on D-glucose uptake into rabbit renal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) DOG showed a competitive inhibition with regard to D-glucose with a Ki of 20 +/- 5 microM, which was not significantly different from that of the template compound OG (Ki = 30 +/- 10 microM). On irradiation (lambda max = 350 nm) of BBMV in the presence of [14C]DOG, proteins of 61, 72 to 78, and 95 kDa were labeled by photoinduction. A band of 73 kDa was also positive in Western blots using an anti-Na+/D-glucose cotransporter antibody. Further investigations revealed that the labeled proteins were presumably mainly glucosidases known to be present in high concentration in renal BBMV. By comparison with authentic material one of the labeled proteins (61 kDa) was identified as trehalase (EC 3.2.1.28). These studies suggest that labels such as DOG carrying the reactive group directly at the D-glucose moiety of the molecule can be used to label proteins with carbohydrate recognition sites.