Host-Guest Strategy to Reversibly Control a Chloride Carrier Process with Cyclodextrins

Herein, we report a reversible modular chloride transport process based on host-guest competitive interactions between an imidazolium-based chloride carrier and beta-cyclodextrin. We report evidence for the formation of the supramolecular complex between 1,3-bis(2-(adamantan-1-yl)ethyl)imidazolium bis(trifluorometyl-sulfonyl)imide with two β-cyclodextrins. Through fluorescence assays in liposomes and black lipid membrane experiments, we demonstrate that the formation of the supramolecular complex results in the inhibition of the chloride transport. We show that the chloride transport process can be entirely restored in the presence of competitive adamantyl-functionalized guests. This is the first example of an entirely reversible modular chloride transport process in phospholipid bilayers involving a mobile carrier transporter and cyclodextrin supramolecular complex.