Click chemistry based biomolecular conjugation monitoring using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy mapping

We describe here a novel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based technique for monitoring the conjugation of small molecules by the well-known click reaction between an alkyne and azido moiety on the partner molecules. The monitoring principle is based on the loss of the characteristic alkyne/azide Raman signal with triazole formation in the reaction as a function of time. Since these universal Raman reporter groups are specific for click reactions, this method may facilitate a broad range of applications for monitoring the conjugation efficiency of molecules in diverse areas such as bioconjugation, material science or drug discovery. Additionally, as an attractive advantage of this technique, no significant background signal is expected during the measurements, since these signals reside in a Raman silent region of 2000-2300 cm
^-1
, where virtually all biological molecules are transparent.