In some embodiments, the present invention pertains to a method for
conjugating a first compound to a second compound wherein the conjugation
involves an electrophilic moiety. The method comprises reacting the first
compound with the second compound to form a conjugate. The improvement in
embodiments of the present invention comprises adding a nucleophilic
reagent to the conjugate wherein the nucleophilic reagent forms a neutral
product upon reaction with unreacted electrophilic moieties of the
conjugate. In some embodiments, the nucleophilic reagent is substantially
non-reactive with disulfide bonds in the event that the conjugate
comprises disulfide bonds. The conjugate formed is doubly deactivated
because the other moiety for linking to the electrophilic moiety is also
deactivated.