Telomers of N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)(-3')-methacryloylaminopropanaminium inner salt (SPB), 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), and N,N-dimethyl-N-(1-carboxymethyl)-2-methacryloyloxylethanaminium inner salt (CMB) were prepared by UV irradiation in the presence of N,N,N',N'-tetraethylthiuram disulfide and a disulfide-group-carrying iniferter (a compound which pursues initiation, chain transfer, and termination). Cys-BDC, which had been prepared by coupling N.N-diethyldithiocarbamoylmethylbenzoic acid succinimidyl ester with cystamine dihydrochloride. The telomers formed a self-assembled rnonolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode and a monolayer of colloidal gold deposited on a glass plate, as confirmed by the increase in potential difference (DeltaE(p)) of the voltammogram for hydroquinone as a probe using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the increase in absorbance using localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption spectroscopy, respectively. Nonspecific adsorption of various proteins onto the surfaces of various telomer SAMs was examined from the decrease in peak current (DeltaI) using CV and the absorption increase at 550 nm using LSPR absorption spectroscopy. The zwitterionic telomer SAM in general did not adsorb proteins significantly, suggesting the usability of zwitterionic polymer SAMs and brushes to coat various materials used in biomedical fields. The correlation between the structure of water in the vicinity of zwitterionic telomers and the resistance of the zwitterionic telomer SAMs against the nonspecific adsorption of proteins was discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.