New diphenylhexatriene derivatives as fluorescent membrane probes: Partitioning properties

Three new diphenylhexatriene derivatives, two phospholipids and one single-chain amphiphilic molecule, have been synthesized and considered as probes for measuring membrane fluidity by fluorescence anisotropy. The possibility of using these probes to determine specifically fluidity of inner leaflets of cellular plasma membranes was inferred from their partitioning properties between gel and liquid crystalline phases of phospholipid vesicles of binary composition.