Substituent Effects Impact Surface Charge and Aggregation of Thiophenol-Labeled Gold Nanoparticles for SERS Biosensors

SERS immunoassay biosensors hold immense potential for clinical diagnostics due to their high sensitivity and growing interest in multi-marker panels. However, their development has been hindered by difficulties in designing compatible extrinsic Raman labels. Prior studies have largely focused on spectroscopic characteristics in selecting Raman reporter molecules (RRMs) for multiplexing since the presence of well-differentiated spectra is essential for simultaneous detection. However, these candidates often induce aggregation of the gold nanoparticles used as SERS nanotags despite their similarity to other effective RRMs. Thus, an improved understanding of factors affecting the aggregation of RRM-coated gold nanoparticles is needed. Substituent electronic effects on particle stability were investigated using various para-substituted thiophenols. The inductive and resonant effects of functional group modifications were strongly correlated with nanoparticle surface charge and hence their stability. Treatment with thiophenols diminished the negative surface charge of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles, but electron-withdrawing substituents limited the magnitude of this diminishment. It is proposed that this phenomenon arises by affecting the interplay of competing sulfur binding modes. This has wide-reaching implications for the design of biosensors using thiol-modified gold surfaces. A proof-of-concept multiplexed SERS biosensor was designed according to these findings using the two thiophenol compounds with the most electron-withdrawing substitutions: NO2 and CN.

Tuning Non-Radiative Decay Channels via Symmetric/Asymmetric Substituent Effects on Phenazine Derivative and Their Phototherapy Switch Between Dynamic and Thermal Process

Recently, some discovery based on non-radiative decay process leading to photodynamic therapy or photothermal therapy has become an attaching hotspot, and how to achieve better performance is becoming important in...

Transmission of dipolar substituent effects: ionization of a series 3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propynoic acid (E)-3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propenoic acids and their Esterification with Diazodiphenylmethane

Alkaline hydrolysis rates coefficients for the series of methyl 3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propynoate was calculated in 70%v/v dimethylsulphoxide-water at various temperatures (25,30,40, and 50̊ C). The pKa values of 3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propynoic acid and (E)- 3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propenoic acid calculated in 80%w/w 2-methoxyethanol-water at room temperature (25.0̊ C). logk2 of esterification rate coefficients for 3-(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propynioc acid and (E)-3(7-substituted-1-naphthyl) propenioc acid with DDM have been measured at 30.0̊ C. Reversed substituent dipolar effects were found in the ionization reaction. In the esterification reaction with DDM the result show similar but reduced substituted effects. Rate retardations was found in the alkaline hydrolysis. It could be result from steric effect or reversal of substituent dipolar effect with a combination of steric effect.

The Role of Through-Bond Stereoelectronic Effects in the Reactivity of 3-Azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes

Hyperconjugation/conjugation through-bond stereoelectronic effects were studied with density functional theory (DFT) in the context of 3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes to unravel puzzling differences in reactivity between a vinylogous chloride (4) and a vinylogous ester (5). These compounds—whose structures differ only by one substituent—were found to display strikingly different reactivities in hydrochloric acid by Risch and co-workers (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 9411–9412). Computational analyses of substituent effects, noncovalent interactions, natural bond orbitals, isodesmic reactions, and hydration propensities lead to a model for which the role of remote, through-bond stereoelectronic effects is key to explaining 4 and 5’s diverging reactivity.