Carbonyl mediated conductance through metal bound peptides: a computational study.

Large increases in the conductance of peptides upon binding to metal ions have recently been reported experimentally. The mechanism of the conductance switching is examined computationally. It is suggested that oxidation of the metal ion occurs after binding to the peptide. This is caused by the bias potential placed across the metal-peptide complex. A combination of configurational changes, metal ion involvement and interactions between carbonyl group oxygen atoms and the gold leads are all shown to be necessary for the large improvement in the conductance seen experimentally. Differences in the molecular orbitals of the nickel and copper complexes are noted and serve to explain the variation of the improvement in conductance upon binding to either a nickel or copper ion.