Chemical modification refers to a number of various processes involving the alteration of the chemical constitution or structure of molecules.
In chemistry
Chemical modification describes the conversion of macromolecules through a chemical reaction or series of reactions.
Chemically modified electrodes
Chemically modified electrodes are electrodes that have their surfaces chemically converted to change the electrode's properties, such as its
physical,
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
,
electrochemical
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...
,
optical
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...
,
electrical
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
, and
transport
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...
characteristics. These electrodes are used for advanced purposes in research and investigation.
[Durst, R., Baumner, A., Murray, R., Buck, R., & Andrieux, C.,]
Chemically modified electrodes: Recommended terminology and definitions (PDF)
, IUPAC, 1997, pp 1317–1323.
In biochemistry
In
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology ...
, chemical modification is the technique of anatomically reacting a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...
or
nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main ...
with a reagent or reagents. Obtaining laboratory information through chemical modification which can be utilized to:
* identify which parts of a molecule are exposed to a solvent.
* determine which residues are important for a particular phenotype, e.g., which residues are important for an enzymatic activity;
* introduce new groups into a macromolecule; and
* crosslink macromolecules intra- and intermolecularly.
Chemical modification of protein side chains
*
Iodoacetamide
*
Iodoacetic acid
*
PEGylation
*
BisSulfosuccinimidyl suberate
*
1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide
*
N-Ethylmaleimide
*
Methyl methanethiosulfonate
*
MTSL
References
Protein structure
{{Protein-stub