Dithiobis-succinimidyl propionate (DTSP), an important homobifunctional crosslinker, has been widely used for the covalent immobilization of proteins onto solid supports by amine coupling. In the present study, adsorption of DTSP on vacuum-deposited gold island films was analyzed by means of surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS). For the sake of a reliable assignment of the vibrational spectra, IR intensity of the adsorption model of TSP on one gold surface was calculated using density functional theory (DFT) at the Beck’s three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) level with the LANL2DZ basis set. SEIRAS and multiple-angle-of-incidence polarization infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy indicated that TSP is arranged orderly in a tilted fashion with a dihedral angle of 65 degrees between the plane of succinimidyl ring and the gold surface. The binding kinetics revealed that that the time constant of self-assembly of the TSP layer is 220 sec. Furthermore, the coupling process of amino-nitrilotriacetic acid (ANTA) with surface-bound TSP monolayer was monitored in situ by SEIRAS. Three negative bands observed at 1 807, 1 776, and 1 728 cm-1 respectively provided direct evidence for the reaction of the succinimidyl ester. The appearance of one intense band at 1 566 cm-1 gave a clear support for the presence of the cross-link between ANTA and TSP. We hope that the results in current investigation will contribute to the better understanding of properties of DTSP and related reactions at the molecular level.