Keywords: Caged compounds / Glutamate transporter / Natural products / Photochemistry o-Nitrobenzyl-protected bioactive compounds are useful tools in biophysics, allowing controlled photorelease of biologically active compounds with high temporal and spatial precision. Thus, it is possible to study biological processes, such as neurotransmitter-receptor interaction, and many other processes, in much more detail than before. In this respect, these caged compounds have become established as extremely useful tools. In some cases, however, their biological properties (the caged compound should not interact with the biological system), their photochemical properties (quantum yield and kinetics of the photorelease), and their physical properties (high hydrophilicity) are not satisfactory. In order