Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Yoctowells

Rigid molecular monolayers made of alpha,omega-diamido lipids form yoctoliter-sized gaps ("yoctowells", 1 yL = 10(-24) L or 1 nm3) around porphyrin islands on smooth surfaces. Their hydrophobic walls adsorb cyclic edge amphiphiles, e.g., trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol, cellobiose, and tyrosine, which fill-up the wells slowly and irreversibly by a process called "kinetic trapping". Wells with oligoethylene or oligoamide walls are effective as 3D-crown ethers or oligoamide barrels for reversible "thermodynamic trapping" of amines or amides. Three porphyrins A, B, and C were sorted as stacks within the yoctowells, and a methylammonium ring was established at their rim to fixate a fourth molecule D at a longer distance. Yoctowells are easy to prepare, characterize, and modify and provide simple models of biological modules.