Su Dan-Dan, van der Lee Arie, Barboiu Mihail
Institut Européen des Membrane, Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, University of Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS., Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 047, F-34095, Montpellier, France.
Babes-Bolyai University, Supramolecular Organic and Organometallic Chemistry Center (SOOMCC), Cluj-Napoca, 11 Arany Janos str., RO-400028, Cluj, Napoca, Romania.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jan 2;64(1):e202413816. doi: 10.1002/anie.202413816. Epub 2024 Oct 31.
Artificial water channels (AWCs) have been extensively explored to mimic natural proteins, which enables to effectively transport water while blocking ions. As one of the first AWCs, self-assembled I-quartets (HCx) have showcased high water-permselectivity that can be enhanced by improving their distribution and stability within membrane. The use of long alkyl chains (n>8) is constrained by their low solubility and aggregation. Herein, we considered cycloalkyl moieties, explored for the increase of the solubility favoring enhanced partition and/ for their self-assembly behaviors resulting the formation of effective stable water-channels with increased water permeability in bilayer membranes. This class of cycloalkyl-ureido-ethyl-imidazole amphiphilic (CxUH) channel could serve as a new reference for the effective design of self-assembled artificial water channels, it may give rise to the applications in desalination or in water treatment.
人工水通道（AWCs）已被广泛研究以模拟天然蛋白质，其能够有效地运输水同时阻挡离子。作为最早的人工水通道之一，自组装I-四重体（HCx）已展现出高水渗透选择性，可通过改善其在膜内的分布和稳定性来增强。长烷基链（n>8）的使用受到其低溶解度和聚集的限制。在此，我们考虑了环烷基部分，探索其用于增加溶解度以促进增强分配和/或其自组装行为，从而在双层膜中形成具有增加水渗透性的有效稳定水通道。这类环烷基-脲基-乙基-咪唑两亲性（CxUH）通道可为自组装人工水通道的有效设计提供新的参考，可能会在海水淡化或水处理中得到应用。
