Microtubules from Fluorinated Phosphorylated Amphiphiles in Aqueous/Alcoholic and Non-Aqueous Solvents

Abstract

Phospholipids are known to self-organize into bilayer membranes and liposomes. Recently, much attention has also been focussed on highly ordered cylindrical, bilayer-based hollow microstructures usually called tubules, that form, for example, from diacetylenic phosphatidylcholines [1]. However, despite the potential of these new supramolecular architectures in both fundamental and applied area, only few tubule-forming surfactants have been reported yet. We have shown that the driving force required to form and stabilize coiled membranes in water can be brought by fitting amphiphiles with a single fluorinated chain, without need for rigid segments, hydrogen bonding between polar head or chiral centers [2,3].