X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Amino Acids, Polypeptides and Simple Carbohydrates

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a surface sensitive analytical technique which measures the binding energy of electrons in atoms and molecules. The binding energy can be related to the molecular bonding or oxidation state of an element in the outermost layer of a material, that is 100 A. Thus, XPS is able to identify chemical species present on the surface of a molecule. In this paper XPS is briefly described. Spectra demonstrating its potential use for probing the surface properties of amino acids, polypeptides, proteins, carbohydrates and glycoproteins are discussed.