Vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy was used to study the nanoscale geometric effects on molecular conformation of dodecanethiol ligand on gold nanoparticles of varying size between 1.8 and 23 nm. By analyzing the CH3 and CH2 stretch transitions of dodecanethiol using the spectroscopic propensity rules for the SFG process, we observe the increase of the gauche defects in the alkyl chain of the ligand on the nanoparticle surface when the curvature approaches the size of the molecule ( approximately 1.6 nm). In contrast, linear infrared absorption and Raman spectra, governed by different selection rules, do not allow observation of the size-dependent conformational changes. The results are understood in terms of the geometric packing effect, where the curvature of the nanoparticle surface results in the increased conical volume available for the alkyl chain.

We report studies of metal nanoparticle surfaces using vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. SFG is demonstrated as a sensitive and information-rich probe of nanostructured surfaces. Detection of SFG spectra from a few percent of a monolayer of nanoparticles on a transparent substrate was achieved, corresponding to as few as 10 5 isolated particles within the laser beam spot. A new effect arises when the nanoparticle size approaches the molecular scale: the dependence of the molecular conformation on the geometry of the substrate. Conformation of the dodecane chain of the ligand shows systematic variation with the particle diameter in the 1.8-25 nm range. More gauche defects are observed on smaller particles, judged from the relative intensities of the CH 2 and CH 3 stretch transitions in SFG spectra. Similar behavior observed for both gold and silver particles suggests a nanoscale geometric packing effect, whence more volume is available to the chain on a curved surface than a flat surface. Drying-mediated aggregation of gold nanoparticles results in an enhancement of the SFG signal, enabling vibrational SFG spectra of single submicron size aggregates to be obtained. These are different from spectra of isolated particles, indicating a vibrational mode-selective enhancement mechanism. † Part of the special issue "Kenneth B. Eisenthal Festschrift".

Recent research has implicated the C-terminus of G-protein coupled receptors in key events such as receptor activation and subsequent intracellular sorting, yet obtaining structural information of the entire C-tail has proven a formidable task. Here, a peptide corresponding to the full-length C-tail of the human CB1 receptor (residues 400–472) was expressed in E.coli and purified in a soluble form. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed that the peptide adopts an α-helical conformation in negatively charged and zwitterionic detergents (48–51% and 36–38%, respectively), whereas it exhibited the CD signature of unordered structure at low concentration in aqueous solution. Interestingly, 27% helicity was displayed at high peptide concentration suggesting that self-association induces helix formation in the absence of a membrane mimetic. NMR spectroscopy of the doubly labeled (15N- and 13C-) C-terminus in dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) identified two amphipathic α-helical domains. The first domain, S401-F412, corresponds to the helix 8 common to G protein-coupled receptors while the second domain, A440-M461, is a newly identified structural motif in the distal region of the carboxyl-terminus of the receptor. Molecular modeling of the C-tail in DPC indicates that both helices lie parallel to the plane of the membrane with their hydrophobic and hydrophilic faces poised for critical interactions.

Covalent surface attachment of carbohydrate moieties using maleimide-sulfhydril reaction was characterized by surface-selective vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. The comparative VSFG spectra of the precursor maleimide-terminated SAM and the product glucose adlayer reveal the high efficiency of the surface coupling reaction (>90%) and the details of the molecular organization of the formed carbohydrate adlayer. The glucose groups are orientationally well ordered, as judged by their sharp CsH stretch bands. The chemical structure of the linker can significantly affect the orientation of the carbohydrate moiety at the surface. Two alkanethiol linkers of different chain lengths (11 and 16 carbons) yield similar orientations of the glucose in the adlayer whereas the cysteinecontaining linker produces markedly different relative peak intensities of the glucose CsH stretch bands in the VSFG spectra, suggesting a significantly different orientation with respect to the surface plane.

The attachment of cells onto solid supports is fundamental in the development of advanced biosensors or biochips. In this work, we characterize cortical neuron adhesion, growth, and distribution of an adhesive layer, depending on the molecular structure and composition . Neuronal networks are successfully grown on amino-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold substrate without adhesion protein interfaces. Neuron adhesion efficiency was studied for amino-terminated, carboxy-terminated, and 1:1 mixed alkanethiol SAMs deposited on gold substrates. Atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to measure the roughness of gold substrate and thickness of SAM monolayers. Conformational ordering and ionic content of SAMs were characterized by vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. Only pure amino-terminated SAMs provide efficient neuronal cell attachment. Ordering of the terminal amino groups does not affect efficiency of neuron adhesion. VSFG analysis shows that ordering of the terminal groups improves with decreasing surface roughness; however the number of gauche defects in alkane chains is independent of surface roughness. We monitor partial dissociation of carboxy groups in mixed SAMs that implies formation of NH3+ neighbors and appearance of catanionic structure. Such catanionic environment proved inefficient for neuron adhesion. Surface roughness of metal within the 0.7-2 nm range has little effect on the efficiency of neuron adhesion. This approach can be used to create new methods that help map structure-property relationships of biohybrid systems.