Phase transitions in 1,2- and 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine monolayers at the oil/water interface.

Moving the phosphatidylcholine group from the 3- to the 2-position in monolayers of distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine at the oil/water interface expands the surface pressure-area isotherm and markedly increases the surface pressure at which phase separation occurs with only a slight change in the monolayer surface density at the onset of the transition. This is interpreted in terms of a change in an ordering parameter in the solid-condensed state.