Covalent chemistry can be observed at the single-molecule level by using engineered protein pores as “nanoreactors”. By recording the ionic current driven through single engineered alpha-hemolysin (αHL) pores in a transmembrane potential, individual bond-making and bond-breaking steps that occur within the pore and perturb the current are monitored with sub-millisecond time-resolution. Recently, a variety of covalent reactions of small molecules have been observed by this approach including irreversible light-activated chemistry, multiple turnovers of reversible reactions, the turnover of normally irreversible reactions in a twocompartment system and a step-by- step polymerization. These single-molecule experiments are revealing information about fundamental chemical processes that cannot be extracted from ensemble measurements. Further, the approach can be used to examine the effects of the local environment on chemistry and catalysis, and to construct sensors for reactive molecules based on covalent chemistry rather than non-covalent binding interactions. Alternative approaches to small molecule covalent chemistry at the single-molecule level are described in the review, as well as the problems and present limitations of the nanoreactor approach.
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Bayley, H., Luchian, T., Shin, SH., Steffensen, M.B. (2008). Single-Molecule Covalent Chemistry in a Protein Nanoreactor. In: Rigler, R., Vogel, H. (eds) Single Molecules and Nanotechnology. Springer Series in Biophysics, vol 12. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73924-1_10
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