N-异丁酰基-L-半胱氨酸是一种硫醇化合物，可在涉及氨基酸的OPA分析中区分手性。通过N-异丁酰基-L-半胱氨酸的偶极矩与单链DNA的负电荷之间的相互作用，将N-异丁酰基-L-半胱氨酸与单层表面上的金颗粒一起使用以分离单链DNA。这些研究确定，N-异丁酰基-L-半胱氨酸与金纳米颗粒一起在振动圆二色性（VCD）和圆二色性（CD）光谱中是必不可少的工具。此外，与D形式相比，L异构体在松弛DNA的吸附上更有效，D形式导致DNA超螺旋并导致较弱的结合强度。 N-Isobutyryl-L-cysteine is a thiol compound, which distinguishes chirality in assays involving amino acids with OPA. N-Isobutyryl-L-cysteine is employed along with gold particles on a monolayer surface to separate single stranded DNA, via the interaction between the dipole moment of N-Isobutyryl-L-cysteine and the negative charge of single stranded DNA. These studies determined that N-Isobutyryl-L-cysteine is an essential tool along with gold nanoparticles in vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Furthermore, the L isomer is more effective in adsorption of relaxed DNA compared to the D form which causes DNA to supercoil and results in a weaker binding strength.