Synthesis of biofunctional photoinitiators for the detection of nanoscopic material

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Christopher N. Bowman, christopher.bowman@colorado.edu, Hadley D. Sikes, Ryan R. Hansen, ryan.hansen@colorado.edu, and Leah M. Johnson, Leah.Johnson@colorado.edu. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
The concept of amplification is inherent in chain-growth polymerization schemes as numerous propagation steps result from a single initiation event. The ability to chemically link a chain-growth mechanism to materials present at minute levels offers a novel amplification scheme for detection of nano-scale levels of material. Specifically, the photopolymerization of acrylate monomers affords an advantageous signal amplification method to detect biological-recognition events occurring in limited quantities. The fundamental criterion in achieving this polymerization-based amplification involves the synthesis of a macro-initiator. This dual-functional molecule contains initiator groups that commence the polymerization and biological moieties that recognize appropriate biological binding partners. Recent studies demonstrate the feasibility of polymerization-based amplification to generate macroscopically observable polymer from as low as ~1000 targeted molecules of biological material on a surface.