Developments in Molecular Recognition and Sensing at Interfaces

Abstract

In biological systems, molecular recognition events occur mostly withininterfacial environments such as at membrane surfaces, enzyme reaction sites, or at theinterior of the DNA double helix. Investigation of molecular recognition at model interfacesprovides great insights into biological phenomena. Molecular recognition at interfaces notonly has relevance to biological systems but is also important for modern applications suchas high sensitivity sensors. Selective binding of guest molecules in solution to hostmolecules located at solid surfaces is crucial for electronic or photonic detection of analytesubstances. In response to these demands, molecular recognition at interfaces has beeninvestigated extensively during the past two decades using Langmuir monolayers, self-assembled monolayers, and lipid assemblies as recognition media. In this review, advancesof molecular recognition at interfaces are briefly summarized.

Keywords

• molecular recognition
• interface
• air-water interface
• Langmuir-Blodgett film
• self-assembled monolayer
• molecular assembly.