Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 12 March 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5408, pp. 1727 - 1730
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5408.1727
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

How Strong Is a Covalent Bond?

Michel Grandbois, 1 Martin Beyer, 2 Matthias Rief, 13 Hauke Clausen-Schaumann, 1 Hermann E. Gaub 1*

The rupture force of single covalent bonds under an external load was measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). Single polysaccharide molecules were covalently anchored between a surface and an AFM tip and then stretched until they became detached. By using different surface chemistries for the attachment, it was found that the silicon-carbon bond ruptured at 2.0 ± 0.3 nanonewtons, whereas the sulfur-gold anchor ruptured at 1.4 ± 0.3 nanonewtons at force-loading rates of 10 nanonewtons per second. Bond rupture probability calculations that were based on density functional theory corroborate the measured values.

1 Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Amalienstrasse 54, D-80799 München, Germany.
2 Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, 85748 Garching, Germany.
3 Department of Biochemistry B400, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5307, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: The titin-telethonin complex is a directed, superstable molecular bond in the muscle Z-disk.
M. Bertz, M. Wilmanns, and M. Rief (2009)
PNAS 106, 13307-133310
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Force-Clamp Spectroscopy Detects Residue Co-evolution in Enzyme Catalysis.
R. Perez-Jimenez, A. P. Wiita, D. Rodriguez-Larrea, P. Kosuri, J. A. Gavira, J. M. Sanchez-Ruiz, and J. M. Fernandez (2008)
J. Biol. Chem. 283, 27121-27129
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Universal scaling for polymer chain scission in turbulence.
S. A. Vanapalli, S. L. Ceccio, and M. J. Solomon (2006)
PNAS 103, 16660-16665
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Single-molecule mechanics of mussel adhesion.
H. Lee, N. F. Scherer, and P. B. Messersmith (2006)
PNAS 103, 12999-13003
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Anisotropic deformation response of single protein molecules.
H. Dietz, F. Berkemeier, M. Bertz, and M. Rief (2006)
PNAS 103, 12724-12728
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evaluation of synthetic linear motor-molecule actuation energetics.
B. Brough, B. H. Northrop, J. J. Schmidt, H.-R. Tseng, K. N. Houk, J. F. Stoddart, and C.-M. Ho (2006)
PNAS 103, 8583-8588
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Force-dependent chemical kinetics of disulfide bond reduction observed with single-molecule techniques.
A. P. Wiita, S. R. K. Ainavarapu, H. H. Huang, and J. M. Fernandez (2006)
PNAS 103, 7222-7227
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Proteoglycan Mechanics Studied by Single-molecule Force Spectroscopy of Allotypic Cell Adhesion Glycans.
S. Garcia-Manyes, I. Bucior, R. Ros, D. Anselmetti, F. Sanz, M. M. Burger, and X. Fernandez-Busquets (2006)
J. Biol. Chem. 281, 5992-5999
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Localization of the Lipopolysaccharide-binding Protein in Phospholipid Membranes by Atomic Force Microscopy.
S. Roes, F. Mumm, U. Seydel, and T. Gutsmann (2006)
J. Biol. Chem. 281, 2757-2763
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Elastic Properties of the Caulobacter crescentus Adhesive Holdfast Are Dependent on Oligomers of N-Acetylglucosamine.
G. Li, C. S. Smith, Y. V. Brun, and J. X. Tang (2005)
J. Bacteriol. 187, 257-265
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Single-chip mechatronic microsystem for surface imaging and force response studies.
S. Hafizovic, D. Barrettino, T. Volden, J. Sedivy, K.-U. Kirstein, O. Brand, and A. Hierlemann (2004)
PNAS 101, 17011-17015
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Carbohydrate-carbohydrate interaction provides adhesion force and specificity for cellular recognition.
I. Bucior, S. Scheuring, A. Engel, and M. M. Burger (2004)
J. Cell Biol. 165, 529-537
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamics of the interaction between a fibronectin molecule and a living bacterium under mechanical force.
Y. Bustanji, C. R. Arciola, M. Conti, E. Mandello, L. Montanaro, and B. Samori (2003)
PNAS 100, 13292-13297
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A force-based protein biochip.
K. Blank, T. Mai, I. Gilbert, S. Schiffmann, J. Rankl, R. Zivin, C. Tackney, T. Nicolaus, K. Spinnler, F. Oesterhelt, et al. (2003)
PNAS 100, 11356-11360
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Beyond the conventional description of dynamic force spectroscopy of adhesion bonds.
O. K. Dudko, A. E. Filippov, J. Klafter, and M. Urbakh (2003)
PNAS 100, 11378-11381
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DNA: A Programmable Force Sensor.
C. Albrecht, K. Blank, M. Lalic-Multhaler, S. Hirler, T. Mai, I. Gilbert, S. Schiffmann, T. Bayer, H. Clausen-Schaumann, and H. E. Gaub (2003)
Science 301, 367-370
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inverting dynamic force microscopy: From signals to time-resolved interaction forces.
M. Stark, R. W. Stark, W. M. Heckl, and R. Guckenberger (2002)
PNAS 99, 8473-8478
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Affinity Imaging of Red Blood Cells Using an Atomic Force Microscope.
M. Grandbois, W. Dettmann, M. Benoit, and H. E. Gaub (2000)
J. Histochem. Cytochem. 48, 719-724
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)