Described herein is an enzyme-mediated approach to bioconjugation at nanoparticle (NP) surfaces. This process is enabled by a new synthetic linker compatible with the covalent attachment of alkyne modified substrates, including dyes, peptides and nucleic acids. The methods described herein specifically allow for the linkage of molecules to a DNA-functionalized nanoparticle surface. Enzymatic ligation of molecules to the terminal hydroxyl group of DNA using T4 DNA ligase is achieved through incorporation of a single monophosphate on the approaching substrate. In contrast to previous strategies, the linkers disclosed herein are compatible with alkyne modified molecules of a variety of sizes and charges indicating that the ligase minimally requires the monophosphate and the incoming hydroxyl for conjugation to be successful.