Force-activated reactivity switch in a bimolecular chemical reaction at the single molecule level

Mechanical force is a distinct and usually less explored way to activate chemical reaction because it can deform the reacting molecules along a well-defined direction of the reaction coordinate. However, the effect of mechanical force on the free- energy surface that governs a chemical reaction is still largely unknown. The combination of protein engineering with single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy allows us to study the influence of mechanical force on the rate at which a protein disulfide bond is reduced by some reducing agents in a bimolecular substitution reaction (so-called SN2). We found that cleavage of a protein disulfide bond by hydroxide anions exhibits an abrupt reactivity ``switch'' at 500 pN, after which the accelerating effect of force on the rate of an SN2 chemical reaction greatly diminishes. We propose that an abrupt force- induced conformational change of the protein disulfide bond shifts its ground state, drastically changing its reactivity in SN2 chemical reactions. Our experiments directly demonstrate the action of a force-activated switch in the chemical reactivity of a single molecule. References: S. Garcia-Manyes, J. Liang, R. Szoszkiewicz, T-L. Kuo and J. M. Fernandez, Nature Chemistry, 1, 236-242, 2009.