title: Isolating Reactions at the Picoliter Scale: Parallel Control of Reaction Kinetics at the Liquid-Liquid Interface.
abstract: Miniaturized liquid-liquid interfacial reactors offer enhanced surface area and rapid confinement of compounds of opposite solubility, yet they are unable to provide in situ reaction monitoring at a molecular level at the interface. A picoreactor operative at the liquid-liquid interface is described, comprising plasmonic colloidosomes containing Ag octahedra strategically assembled at the water-in-decane emulsion interface. The plasmonic colloidosomes isolate ultrasmall amounts of solutions (<200 pL), allowing parallel monitoring of multiple reactions simultaneously. Using the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique, in situ monitoring of the interfacial protonation of dimethyl yellow (p-dimethylaminoazobenzene (DY)) is performed, revealing an apparent rate constant of 0.09 min(-1) for the first-order reaction. The presence of isomeric products with similar physical properties is resolved, which would otherwise be indiscernible by other analytical methods.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 637371, Singapore.
authors.forename: Gia Chuong
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Phan-Quang
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 637371, Singapore.|Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hiang Kwee
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 637371, Singapore. xyling@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Xing Yi
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5495-6428
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Ling
keywords: colloidosomes; high throughput; in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS); isomer identification; picoreactors