Analytical chemistry aims to efficiently discriminate between two amino acids. In a new report in Science Advances, Zihao Liu and a research team in Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science in China and Japan, used a single-molecule electrical method based on molecular nanocircuits to form stable graphene-molecule-graphene single-molecule junctions. The team developed these molecular junctions by covalently bonding a molecular machine. Then they used pH to vary the type and charge of the amino acids to find distinct multimodal current fluctuations originating from diverse host guest interactions relative to theoretical calculations. The conductance data produced characteristic leveling times and shuttling rates for each amino acid to allow accurate and real-time in situ measurements. The scientists tested four amino acids and their enantiomers (chiral molecules that are mirror images of one another) to show the ability to distinguish between them in a few microseconds to provide a simple and precise method for amino acid identification as well as single-molecule protein sequencing.
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Source: Phys.org