Lipoamido-polyPEG is a bidentate thiol-terminated PEG derivative which can be used for surface modification of quantum dots, silver and gold surfaces as well as magnetic particles. Nanotechnology using gold or silver particles, quantum dots or even magnetic particles are broadly diverse, rapidly expanding areas of study in medical diagnostics and therapeutics, sensoric and chemistry.
Through PEGyalation, solubility and non-immunogenicity of nanoparticles can be enhanced. Thiols readily form dative bonds to gold and silver surfaces creating self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) which modify surfaces for coupling proteins and other molecules.