In a glass house: Silica-encapsulated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on tunable gold/silver nanoshells were used as labels for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). This concept combines the spectroscopic advantages arising from maximum surface coverage and uniform molecular orientation of the Raman reporter molecules within the complete monolayer together with the high chemical and mechanical stability of the glass shell.

We demonstrate the first realization of immuno-Raman microspectroscopy, a novel methodology in immunohistochemistry. The in situ detection of antigens in tissue specimens is achieved by surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from aromatic Raman labels covalently linked to the corresponding antibody. As an example of applications of this new Raman technique, we present the localization of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in epithelial tissue from patients with prostate carcinoma (PCA).

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of Raman reporter molecules adsorbed to the surface of metal nanoparticles are labelling agents for the selective detection of biomolecules by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Advantages of SAM-based SERS labels include maximum coverage with Raman reporter molecules combined with their uniform molecular orientation within the SAM as well as minimal co-adsorption of other molecules from the surrounding. Water solubility and stability together with the option for controlled bioconjugation are desired properties of SERS labels. We present an approach to synthesize hydrophilic SERS labels in which the colloidal particle is stabilized by two different ethylene glycols attached to the SAM. This guarantees water solubility, independent of the type of a particular Raman reporter molecule and its properties at the SAM/solvent interface. Our dual SAM design is based on two different ethylene glycol spacers covalently bound to the same type of reporter molecule: a short monoethylene glycol (MEG-OH) and a longer triethylene glycol (TEG-COOH) moiety. The terminal carboxy group of the TEG spacer allows subsequent conjugation to biomolecules such as antibodies. Controlled bioconjugation is possible by varying the stoichiometric ratio of both spacers. Finally, dual SAM SERS labels are used in immuno-SERS microscopy for selective imaging of prostate-specific antigen in the epithelium of biopsies from patients with prostate cancer.

A short synthesis route to silica‐encapsulated nanoparticles coated with a self‐assembled monolayer (SAM) is presented. The organic molecules within the SAM contain a SiO2 precursor to render the surface vitreophilic. Due to the high mechanical and chemical stability of a glass shell, such particles can be used as probes in targeted research with surface‐enhanced Raman scattering as the read‐out method.

Despite the public health impact of human malaria, the mechanism of hemozoin inhibition by antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine (CQ) is not yet fully understood. Polarization-resolved resonance Raman spectra of hematin and its complex with CQ were recorded under Q-band resonance conditions in order to monitor the binding of the 4-aminoquinoline drug to the heme macrocycle. Upon drug addition, only wavenumber shifts smaller than 2 cm −1 are detected, indicating a non-covalent interaction in the electronic ground state of the drug-target complex. The decreased resonance Raman intensity of the anomalously polarized mode n 19 .a 2g / in the perpendicular polarized spectrum of the complex suggests changes of the excited-state geometry along the corresponding normal coordinate.