An Artificial Ion Channel Formed by a Macrocyclic Resorcin4arene with Amphiphilic Cholic Acid Ether Groups

Tail-to-tail assembly of two molecules of a resorcin4arene resulted in a bilayer membrane with an intramembrane ion channel. The steroidal tails introduced here have the advantages of giving a long-lived open state of the pore (2.5-4.5 s, as opposed to tens of milliseconds for alkyl tails) and of allowing the hydrophilic pore to be modified without changing the overall structural features.