HYDROGEN-BONDING, SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYERS - ORDERED MOLECULAR FILMSFOR STUDY OF THROUGH-PEPTIDE ELECTRON-TRANSFER

New peptide-containing alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold have been prepared. These monolayers exhibit extended interchain hydrogen bonding and have well-ordered alkane chains. Elemental compo sition and thickness of the monolayer are obtained by X-ray photoelect ron spectroscopy. External reflective IR spectroscopy shows that the S AMs are uniaxial and possess microcrystalline, densely packed methylen e chains with hydrogen bonding between neighboring amide moieties. The se highly ordered monolayers form excellent electrochemical spacers as characterized by electrochemical blocking studies and double-layer ca pacitance measurements. The well-defined structure makes this system a promising prototype for systematic investigations of long-range elect ron transfer through amide bonds.