Trimethylammonium-Substituted Amphiphilic Pillar[ n ]arene Channels for Selective Water Permeation
Abstract
Artificial water channels (AWCs) are synthetic systems biomimicking natural aquaporins (AQPs) that selectively transport water while rejecting ions. Amphiphilic rim-differentiated pillar[5]arenes and pillar[6]arenes, featuring cationic methylammonium and alkyl substituents on opposite rims, spontaneously assemble into two-dimensional channels with tunable pore sizes and channel lengths. Herein, we considered the alkyl chains (butyl-C4 and decatyl-C10) of these channels in relation to membrane partitioning and investigated the potential structure-activity relationships within the lipid bilayer. A synergistic effect of a large pore and favorable lipophilicity led to the highest water permeation (∼1 × 10 8 water molecules per channel per second) for AP-P6A-C10, as well as ion rejection. The present channels may be regarded as a rare biomimetic example of artificial channels that preferentially transport water while presenting low proton or ion transport activity.
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BibTeX
@article{su2026trimethylammoniumsubstituted,
title = {{Trimethylammonium-Substituted Amphiphilic Pillar[ n ]arene Channels for Selective Water Permeation}},
author = {Dan-Dan Su and Tan-Hao Shi and Tomoki Ogoshi and Mihail Barboiu},
journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1021/jacs.6c11291},
url = {https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05774440v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Trimethylammonium-Substituted Amphiphilic Pillar[ n ]arene Channels for Selective Water Permeation
AU - Dan-Dan Su
AU - Tan-Hao Shi
AU - Tomoki Ogoshi
AU - Mihail Barboiu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/27
JO - Journal of the American Chemical Society
DO - 10.1021/jacs.6c11291
UR - https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05774440v1
AB - Artificial water channels (AWCs) are synthetic systems biomimicking natural aquaporins (AQPs) that selectively transport water while rejecting ions. Amphiphilic rim-differentiated pillar[5]arenes and pillar[6]arenes, featuring cationic methylammonium and alkyl substituents on opposite rims, spontaneously assemble into two-dimensional channels with tunable pore sizes and channel lengths. Herein, we considered the alkyl chains (butyl-C4 and decatyl-C10) of these channels in relation to membrane partitioning and investigated the potential structure-activity relationships within the lipid bilayer. A synergistic effect of a large pore and favorable lipophilicity led to the highest water permeation (∼1 × 10 8 water molecules per channel per second) for AP-P6A-C10, as well as ion rejection. The present channels may be regarded as a rare biomimetic example of artificial channels that preferentially transport water while presenting low proton or ion transport activity.
SN - 0002-7863
SN - 1520-5126
ER -