Ultrathin water layers on mannosylated gold nanoparticles

• Maiara A. Iriarte Alonso,
• Jorge H. Melillo,
• Silvina Cerveny,
• Yujin Tong and
• Alexander M. Bittner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2183–2198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.151

• thiourea PEG thiol chain; the particles also feature COOH-terminated PEG chains (Figure 1). We used a typical standard PEG coating on AuNPs, again with COOH termini (PEG AuNPs) for comparison. Here, and in the following, we use the established term “polyethylene glycol” (PEG) to designate our relatively

• nitrogen) and VSFG at variable humidity. While the preparation involved a known stoichiometric ratio of the thiol mixture (50:50), our FTIR and VSFG data are primarily qualitative and semi-quantitative, serving to validate the presence of the desired chemical moieties. We discuss details of the FTIR

• organic content). Synthesis of gold nanoparticles Gold nanoparticles were synthesized by the Bio Nano Plasmonics Lab at CIC biomaGUNE according to [10]. Both PEG AuNPs and dimanno-AuNPs were obtained by reduction of AuCl4− with BH4− in the presence of the corresponding thiol ligands. For the PEG AuNPs, a

Stereodiscrimination of guests in chiral organosilica aerogels studied by ESR spectroscopy

• Sebastian Polarz,
• Yasar Krysiak,
• Martin Wessig and
• Florian Kuhlmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2034–2054, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.140

• organosilica materials [51][52], also including aerogels [53][54]. The thiol precursor HS-Ph(Si(OiPr)3)2 was established in 2014 for making periodically ordered mesoporous organosilica [55][56], which are characterized by pore sizes in the sub-10 nm range. Because large pore sizes are beneficial for mass

• in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S7. The alanine-modified precursor can also be used for co-condensation with the thiol precursor as shown in Scheme 2. The co-condensation of the latter precursor with the aforementioned Fmoc-protected, alanine-modified precursor delivers SH-FmocAlaNHzoSIL

• aerogels. After deprotection, one obtains SH-AlaNHzoSIL; the data is given in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S8. In particular, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis proves the presence of sulfur and, thus, the successful incorporation of the thiophenyl groups. The value of the thiol groups

PEGylated lipids in lipid nanoparticle delivery dynamics and therapeutic innovation

• Peiyang Gao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1914–1930, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.133

• targeted LNP cellular uptake To overcome the reduced cellular uptake associated with high PEG density, functionalized PEG lipids can be utilized as chemical handles for the conjugation of small molecules as targeting ligands [34]. For instance, maleimide-PEG lipids are widely used for thiol-mediated

• including RVG29, T7, AP2, and mApoE through thiol-maleimide click chemistry [38][39][40]. The functionalized PEG lipid was incorporated by substituting 10%, 30%, or 50% of the total 1.5 mol % PEG lipid content with DSPE-PEG-maleimide in the LNP formulation. Peptides containing a terminal cysteine residue

• with thiol-containing plasma proteins and trigger the alternative complement pathway [57]. Therefore, quenching free maleimide groups with cysteine will be required but with added complexity in processing [59]. In addition to these functionalized PEG lipids for click conjugation, trans-cycloctene (TCO

Advances of aptamers in esophageal cancer diagnosis, treatment and drug delivery

• Yang Fei,
• Hui Xu,
• Chunwei Zhang,
• Jingjing Wang and
• Yong Jin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1734–1750, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.121

• serum samples. The capture probe is an EGFR aptamer with thiol modification, and the signal probe is an anti-EGFR antibody. This multifunctional cellular probe specifically recognizes and binds to EGFR on the cell surface, inducing the formation of probe aggregates that significantly enhance resonance

• tumor targeting; and (4) PEGylation of aptamers, where polyethylene glycol (PEG) is covalently linked to aptamers, typically via amino, thiol, or carboxyl groups introduced at the 5′ or 3′ end (Figure 5). This PEGylation increases the molecular weight of the drug complex, potentially exceeding the renal

Cross-reactivities in conjugation reactions involving iron oxide nanoparticles

• Shoronia N. Cross,
• Katalin V. Korpany,
• Hanine Zakaria and
• Amy Szuchmacher Blum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1504–1521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.106

• IONPs (IONP-3,4-DHBA) as a platform upon which carbodiimide coupling can be used to conjugate clickable small molecules for further functionalization using two common click reactions, namely, the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), and the thiol–maleimide Michael addition reactions

• erroneous conclusions about the efficacy of conjugation reactions, which can have detrimental impacts on the functionality and safety of IONPs in biomedical applications. Keywords: click chemistry; copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition; disulfide reduction; iron oxide nanoparticles; thiol–maleimide

• for the preparation of functional IONPs capped with either alkynes or azides [8][13][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. The thiol–maleimide Michael addition reaction is another commonly employed click reaction [28][29][30][31], which can be performed at room temperature by simply mixing

Enhancing the therapeutical potential of metalloantibiotics using nano-based delivery systems

• Alejandro Llamedo,
• Marina Cano,
• Raquel G. Soengas and
• Francisco J. García-Alonso

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1350–1366, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.98

• antimicrobial agents since they usually exhibit superior antimicrobial activity compared to silver(I) alone [100]. The mechanism of action of most silver complexes is based on a slow release of the silver(I) ions, which react with the thiol groups of proteins or with key functional groups of enzymes; the

Better together: biomimetic nanomedicines for high performance tumor therapy

• Imran Shair Mohammad,
• Gizem Kursunluoglu,
• Anup Kumar Patel,
• Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq,
• Cansu Umran Tunc,
• Dilek Kanarya,
• Mubashar Rehman,
• Omer Aydin and
• Yin Lifang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1246–1276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.92

• sites it is considered safe for drug delivery applications. In fact, albumin-conjugated drugs are already used in clinical practice [75]. Albumin molecules can be used as a template to surface-decorate inorganic/metallic nanoparticles by biomineralization. In this method, the thiol group at the albumin

• surface acts as scaffold for synthesis of nanoparticles [76]. The thiol groups are protonated at neutral pH and can entrap Au(III) ions. When the pH is changed to basic (≈12), Au(III) is reduced to Au and gold nanoparticles are formed [77]. Synthesis of albumin-templated nanomaterials depends upon many

Nanomaterials in targeting amyloid-β oligomers: current advances and future directions for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and therapy

• Shiwani Randhawa,
• Trilok Chand Saini,
• Manik Bathla,
• Rahul Bhardwaj,
• Rubina Dhiman and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 561–580, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.44

Functionalized gold nanoflowers on carbon screen-printed electrodes: an electrochemical platform for biosensing hemagglutinin protein of influenza A H1N1 virus

• Carlos Enrique Torres-Méndez,
• Sharmilee Nandi,
• Klara Martinovic,
• Patrizia Kühne,
• Yifan Liu,
• Sam Taylor,
• Maria Lysandrou,
• Maria Ines Berrojo Romeyro Mascarenhas,
• Viktoria Langwallner,
• Javier Enrique Sebastián Alonso,
• Ivana Jovanovic,
• Maike Lüftner,
• Georgia-Vasiliki Gkountana,
• David Bern,
• Abdul-Raouf Atif,
• Ehsan Manouchehri Doulabi,
• Gemma Mestres and
• Masood Kamali-Moghaddam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 540–550, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.42

• -ATP The surface of the electrodes was functionalized to introduce an amine group, which was used to covalently bind the mAbs as biorecognition element. The molecule 4-ATP possesses a thiol group capable of self-assembling on the surface of the AuNFs. A method from the literature [57] with some

Attempts to preserve and visualize protein corona on the surface of biological nanoparticles in blood serum using photomodification

• Julia E. Poletaeva,
• Anastasiya V. Tupitsyna,
• Alina E. Grigor’eva,
• Ilya S. Dovydenko and
• Elena I. Ryabchikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1654–1666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.130

• , Russia) [23]. PACL (Figure 1) is a molecule carrying two orthogonal reactive groups, namely, (i) a maleimide residue that modifies serum proteins at their thiol groups and (ii) an nitroaryl azide group to form covalent cross-links between proteins and nanoparticles under the influence of UV radiation

• . When incubated in the dark, PACL binds to the thiol groups of serum proteins (i.e., it modifies them). The reaction mixture is then irradiated with UV, under the action of which the nitroaryl azide group covalently fixes the modified proteins on the surface of the NPs. This mechanism has been

A biomimetic approach towards a universal slippery liquid infused surface coating

• Ryan A. Faase,
• Madeleine H. Hummel,
• AnneMarie V. Hasbrook,
• Andrew P. Carpenter and
• Joe E. Baio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1376–1389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.111

• cyclic olefin copolymer, silicon, and stainless steel substrates, by first growing a PDA film on each substrate. This was followed by a hydrophobic liquid anchor layer created by functionalizing the PDA film with a fluorinated thiol. Finally, perfluorodecalin was applied to the surface immediately prior

• modification of the PDA film though the formation of a pseudo self-assembled monolayer [19][20]. In this process, molecules that contain thiol groups attach to the newly formed PDA surface via Michael addition [21][22][23]. In this work, we take advantage of PDA to covalently attach fluorinated chains

• copolymer (COC), silicon, and 316 stainless steel (SS) as our substrates. These substrates were first coated with PDA; then, a fluorinated thiol was attached to serve as the anchor for the infused fluid. The resulting surface modifications were then characterized by water contact angle measurements, atomic

Nanoarchitectonics with cetrimonium bromide on metal nanoparticles for linker-free detection of toxic metal ions and catalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol

• Akash Kumar and
• Raja Gopal Rayavarapu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1312–1332, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.106

• to detect Pb2+ in the presence of sodium thiosulfate due to the thiol group’s higher affinity for metal ions [24]. Furthermore, the study found that AuNR1 and AuNR2 detected metals only in the presence of NaOH, possibly due to the removal of CTAB from the nanorod curvature, which is known to contain

Vinorelbine-loaded multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles as anticancer drug delivery systems: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro release study

• Zeynep Özcan and
• Afife Binnaz Hazar Yoruç

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 256–269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.24

• ratios as a result of dopamine polymerisation and covalent bonding of thiol-polyethylene glycol (SH-PEG). The VNB/PDA/Fe3O4 nanoparticles have a saturation magnetisation value of 60.40 emu/g in vibrating sample magnetometry, which proves their magnetisation. Vinorelbine, which is used as an effective

• ), and thiol-polyethylene glycol (SH-PEG, purity: ≥95%), ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH, 28–30%), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were purchased from Merck. The chemical vinorelbine tartrate CRS (European Pharmacopoeia (EP) Reference Standard, catalog no: Y0000463) was also acquired from Merck. Synthesis of

• three times with distilled water, and the PDA/Fe3O4 NPs were dried in a vacuum oven at 55 °C. Surface functionalization of PDA/Fe3O4 nanoparticles with SH-PEG For the surface modification process with SH-PEG, 50 mg of PDA/Fe3O4 NPs were added to 50 mL of Tris-HCl solution. Then, 100 mg of thiol

Antibody-conjugated nanoparticles for target-specific drug delivery of chemotherapeutics

• Mamta Kumari,
• Amitabha Acharya and
• Praveen Thaggikuppe Krishnamurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 912–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.75

• . Maleimide chemistry: Maleimide chemistry is another covalent immobilization technique, which comprises binding through thiol groups (–SH) of the antibodies. This oriented covalent conjugation technique requires various steps, such as chemical modification achieved either by oxidation of sugar moieties or

• the reduction of disulfide bonds. Thiols, also called sulfhydryls, in the cysteine side chain are slightly less abundant than primary amines; therefore, the coupling by thiol groups is more selective [52]. Thiols in cysteines are linked by disulfide bonds (–S–S–) through an oxidation process where the

• thiols groups are oxidized into disulfides. The disulfide bonds stabilize tertiary and quaternary protein structures and play a crucial role in protein folding [53][54]. For conjugation, free thiol and reduced thiol groups are required. Many proteins contain cysteine moieties linked with thiol. In

N-Heterocyclic carbene-based gold etchants

• Robert B. Chevalier,
• Justin Pantano,
• Matthew K. Kiesewetter and
• Jason R. Dwyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 865–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.71

• conditions that the thiol-linked monolayer can be exposed to, prompting the development of alternative surface linking chemistry [12]. N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-based monolayers have received increasing attention for their reported stability under a variety of harsh conditions [11][13][14][15][16]. Indeed

• , an NHC-based monolayer has even been shown to protect against thiol displacement on gold surfaces [13]. Thus, in spite of the challenges that can be presented by NHC synthesis [17], they offer appeal even in light of the more general commercial availability of a wide range of thiols. The covalent

• clearly undesirable that an effort to form a stable monolayer could result in removal of underlying material, but similarly undesirable effects have been reported in the gold–thiol SAM literature. For example, gold–sulfur interactions can lead to a weaker bonding of gold surface atoms to the bulk. This

Gap-directed chemical lift-off lithographic nanoarchitectonics for arbitrary sub-micrometer patterning

• Chang-Ming Wang,
• Hong-Sheng Chan,
• Chia-Li Liao,
• Che-Wei Chang and
• Wei-Ssu Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 34–44, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.4

• glycol undecanethiol (TEG), and biotinylated alkane PEG thiol (BAT) were purchased from Sensopath Technologies Inc. (Bozeman, MT, USA). Streptavidin was purchased from Novus Biologicals (Centennial, CO, USA). FITC-labelled antistreptavidin antibody was purchased from Jackson ImmunoResearch Inc. (West

• -covered Au substrate, the Au surface was immersed in a 2 μM ethanolic TEG thiol solution or 1 mM ethanolic MCU solution for overnight. After SAM formation, the substrates were washed with ethanol to remove excess thiol molecules and blown dry with nitrogen gas. To make PDMS stamps for CLL operation, a 10

• surface patterns created by gap-directed CLL through biorecognition. (A) Schematic illustration of the biorecognition process including post lift-off region biotinylated thiol backfilling, streptavidin binding, and antibody recognition. (B) XPS characterization of the surface for (left) pure MCU SAM

Rapid and sensitive detection of box turtles using an electrochemical DNA biosensor based on a gold/graphene nanocomposite

• Abu Hashem,
• M. A. Motalib Hossain,
• Ab Rahman Marlinda,
• Mohammad Al Mamun,
• Khanom Simarani and
• Mohd Rafie Johan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1458–1472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.120

• electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The thiol-modified synthetic DNA probe was immobilised on modified SPCEs to facilitate hybridisation with the reverse complementary DNA. The turtle DNA was distinguished based on hybridisation-induced electrochemical change in the presence of methylene blue compared to

• surface-to-volume ratio [37][38][43][44][45][46]. Biomolecules such as DNA may readily modify AuNPs by adding thiol and amine groups via Au–S or Au–N links without losing their activity [38][47]. In electrocatalytic applications, the combination of carbon-based materials with metal nanoparticles has been

• active surface area and conductivity of the modified SPCE and also enhanced its electrochemical capacity. The attachment of the thiol group to the probe facilitated covalent attachment with AuNPs, and the carbon spacer arm facilitated protrusion from the electrode surface, which enables proper

Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• highly fluorescent gold-silver bimetallic nanomaterials with stable fluorescence properties by a simple one-pot method using thiol salts as ligands. TPN-AuAgNCs were synthesised using tiopronin (TPN) as ligand, and the clusters emitted strong red fluorescence with good burst selectivity for Fe3+ after Ag

• + doping. The fluorescence was restored after further adding ascorbic acid (AA) based on a redox reaction. A rapid detection method for Fe3+ and AA was established and successfully used to detect Fe3+ and AA in human serum. The DMT-AuAgNCs were successfully prepared using 4,6-diaminopyrimidine-2-thiol (DMT

Design of surface nanostructures for chirality sensing based on quartz crystal microbalance

• Yinglin Ma,
• Xiangyun Xiao and
• Qingmin Ji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1201–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.100

• recognition sites in CDs exposed for preferential adsorption of R-limonene. Ng et al. synthesized thiol-functionalized cyclodextrins with different linker lengths via the Staudinger reaction for chiral recognition of R/S-lactate methyl ester [68]. Through a strong reaction between the thiol group and gold, CD

• placement of achiral subunits on the macrocycle [73][74][75]. Akpinar et al. reported a simple and quick chiral discrimination strategy for ascorbic acid (AA) enantiomers based on calixarenes films (Figure 6) [76]. A chiral calix[4]arene-bearing chiral phenyl glycinol moiety on the lower rim and a thiol

Detection and imaging of Hg(II) in vivo using glutathione-functionalized gold nanoparticles

• Gufeng Li,
• Shaoqing Li,
• Rui Wang,
• Min Yang,
• Lizhu Zhang,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Wenrong Yang and
• Hongbin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 549–559, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.46

• University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia 10.3762/bjnano.13.46 Abstract The optical and biological properties of functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been widely used in sensing applications. GNPs have a strong binding ability to thiol groups. Furthermore, thiols are used to bind functional

• biocompatibility, and low toxicity [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Another advantage of GNPs is that different shapes and sizes can be obtained during synthesis through changing reducing agents and reaction conditions [10]. The surface chemistry of GNPs is modified via ligands with functional groups such as thiol (–SH), amino

• through the interaction between covalent and non-covalent bonds due to the smaller steric hindrance [23][24][25]. The surface of GNPs can be modified by Au–S bonds with molecules containing thiol groups, such as cysteine [26][27][28], 3-mercaptopropionic acid [29], and homocysteine [30]. Also, they easily

Investigation of electron-induced cross-linking of self-assembled monolayers by scanning tunneling microscopy

• Patrick Stohmann,
• Sascha Koch,
• Yang Yang,
• Christopher David Kaiser,
• Julian Ehrens,
• Jürgen Schnack,
• Niklas Biere,
• Dario Anselmetti,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Xianghui Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 462–471, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.39

• the effective cross-sections of a complete cross-linking of 4'-nitro-1,1'-biphenyl-4-thiol SAMs [56]. These studies provided valuable insights into the chemical transformations associated with cross-linking. However, direct imaging on the atomic scale to visualize the evolution of irradiation-induced

• study (some figures and text) are based on the Ph.D. thesis of the first coauthor: P. Stohmann, “Investigation of Electron Irradiation-Induced Cross-Linking of p-Terphenyl Thiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on Au(111) by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy” [72], Ph.D. Thesis 2020, Bielefeld University, Germany

Impact of device design on the electronic and optoelectronic properties of integrated Ru-terpyridine complexes

• Max Mennicken,
• Sophia Katharina Peter,
• Corinna Kaulen,
• Ulrich Simon and
• Silvia Karthäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 219–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.16

• structure such that an almost complete nanoparticle layer was formed. In a next step, the acetyl-protected thiol groups of MPTP-SAc were hydrolyzed with concentrated ammonium solution yielding mainly Ru(MPTP)2–AuNP devices, followed by a washing procedure [15]. As usual, all nanoelectrode samples have been

Sputtering onto liquids: a critical review

• Anastasiya Sergievskaya,
• Adrien Chauvin and
• Stephanos Konstantinidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 10–53, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.2

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• conjunction with inhibition of angiogenic/inflammatory proteins in an NF-κB-dependent manner [18]. Zhang et al. [75] reported that a combination of nanosized particles and the inclusion of glutathione (which has a thiol group that can initiate thiolysis and release CUR) results in a synergistic effect. This

Modification of a SERS-active Ag surface to promote adsorption of charged analytes: effect of Cu²⁺ ions

• Bahdan V. Ranishenka,
• Andrei Yu. Panarin,
• Irina A. Chelnokova,
• Sergei N. Terekhov,
• Peter Mojzes and
• Vadim V. Shmanai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 902–912, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.67

• corresponds to the highest reported values for this method [10][12][32]. Moreover, the SEM image demonstrates many interparticle contacts, which are potential “hot spots” in SERS analysis. Electrostatic effect on SERS signal for thiol-modified Ag NPs Despite the high NP packing density, about 42% of the

• with the Ag surface, we used a set of organic thiols with the same linker length but differently charged hydrophilic functional groups. Thiol functionality guarantees a strong binding to the surface and a sufficiently dense molecule packing to make the surface properties determined by the introduced

• with sodium mercaptoethyl sulfonate did not result in a significant change of the SERS intensity for both porphyrins (Figure 5, number 5). These data are in line with the initial negative charge of the NP surfaces. The high affinity of thiol groups to the Ag surface suggests that the chloride counter