Supramolecular effects and molecular discrimination by macrocyclic hosts embedded in synthetic bilayer membranes

Hybrid assemblies were prepared in combinations of a synthetic lipid, involving an L-alanine residue interposed between an anionic head group and a hydrophobic double-chain segment, with cage-type cyclophanes having a three-dimensionally extended hydrophobic cavity. Incorporation behavior of the cage-type hosts into the multi- and single-walled vesicules was characterized by highly sensitive differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic light-scattering measurements as well as by gel-filtration chromatography and electronic absorption spectroscopy. Both hosts were found to be completely incorporated into a relatively polar domain close to the vesicular surface. Anionic guest molecules, such as naphthol yellow S, dimethylsulfonazo III, bromopyrogallol red, and orange G, were effectively incorporated into the hydrophobic cavities provided by the cage-type cyclophanes embedded in the single-walled bilayer membrane, as confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy; the formation constants for 1:1 host-guest complexes were in the order of 10(4)-10(5) mol.dm-3. This means that the binding affinities of the cage-type hosts are largely retained even when the hosts are incorporated into the vesicle. Moreover, the pyridinium moieties bound to the chiral L-valine residues in the bridging components of the hosts underwent conformational changes upon inclusion of the guest, as confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy and molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations.