Butterfly-Shaped Folding Synthons for Designing Superselective and Ultrapermeable Artificial Water Channels

Water transport across biological membranes is essential for life, facilitated by water channel proteins like aquaporins (AQPs). Drawing inspiration from these natural systems, artificial water channels (AWCs) have emerged as transformative tools for advancing industrial and environmental applications. Herein, we report the design and comprehensive characterization of a groundbreaking class of AWCs, derived from unprecedented butterfly-shaped aromatic folding synthons, carefully engineered to emulate the functional attributes of natural AQPs. These foldamers, with their intricate helical architectures, exhibit exceptional water transport performance. Remarkably, the highest-performing AWC achieves an ultrafast water transport rate of 2.6 × 10¹⁰ H₂O s^-1 per channel-2.4 times the efficiency of AQP1-without the need for lipid anchors to preserve its functional orientation within phospholipid bilayers, while effectively excluding salts such as NaCl and KCl, along with protons. This work presents an ideal bio-inspired, high-performance artificial alternative to natural systems, demonstrating the remarkable potential of foldamer-based AWCs as next-generation solutions for tackling critical challenges in water purification and desalination.