Surface chemical approach to single-step measurement of antibody in human serum using localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor on microtiter plate system

In clinical settings, serum antibody levels serve as markers of pathology. For example, antibodies related to autoimmune diseases are among the conventional targets in laboratory tests. Simple clinical tests can improve the efficacy of laboratory practice. This study describes a single-step, wash-free technique for optically detecting antibodies in human serum through the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanoparticles. As a proof-of-concept experiment, the amount of antibiotin dissolved in human serum was measured with a LSPR-based biosensor in a wash-free manner using a conventional 96-well microtiter plate and a plate reader. For an efficient surface modification of biosensors, zwitterionic copolymer was used as a scaffold on the gold nanoparticle surface to immobilize antigen and blocking reagent. Single-step, wash-free measurement of antibiotin in human serum was successfully achieved. In addition, nonspecific responses from serum contents were significantly reduced because both the copolymer and hydrophilic antigen reagent that we employed were composed of poly(ethylene oxide) spacer. Comparative experiments of the antigen-antibody reaction in serum to that in buffered solution revealed that serum is a favorable environment for the biological reaction. In conclusion, our gold-nanoparticle-based LSPR method may provide a rapid and simple way to measure the amount of antibody in serum quantitatively in clinical practice.

Rhodium phosphine-π-arene intermediates in the hydroamination of alkenes

A detailed mechanistic study of the intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes with amines catalyzed by rhodium complexes of a biaryldialkylphosphine is reported. The active catalyst is shown to contain the phosphine ligand bound in a κ(1), η(6) form in which the arene is π-bound to rhodium. Addition of deuterated amine to an internal olefin showed that the reaction occurs by trans addition of the N-H bond across the C═C bond, and this stereochemistry implies that the reaction occurs by nucleophilic attack of the amine on a coordinated alkene. Indeed, the cationic rhodium fragment binds the alkene over the secondary amine, and the olefin complex was shown to be the catalyst resting state. The reaction was zero-order in substrate, when the concentration of olefin was high, and a primary isotope effect was observed. The primary isotope effect, in combination with the observation of the alkene complex as the resting state, implies that nucleophilic attack of the amine on the alkene is reversible and is followed by turnover-limiting protonation. This mechanism constitutes an unusual pathway for rhodium-catalyzed additions to alkenes and is more closely related to the mechanism for palladium-catalyzed addition of amide N-H bonds to alkenes.