title: Reversible photo-gated transmembrane channel assembled from an acylhydrazone-containing crown ether triad.
abstract: We have prepared a crown ether triad containing acylhydrazone units. In solution, the triad can self-assemble linearly to form an organogel. UV light-induced E/Z isomerization of the C[double bond, length as m-dash]N bond of the acylhydrazone unit endows the assembly with photo-sensitivity. The triad was able to insert into the lipid bilayer to form a supramolecular transmembrane channel which showed transport selectivity for NH4+over K+. The channel exhibited photo-gating properties under microscopic and macroscopic conditions. The transport of the channel could be reversibly switched off and on by irradiation with alternating 320 and 365 nm UV light as supported by the conductance measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China. yuliu@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China. yuliu@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China. houjl@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ping-Ping
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China. houjl@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China. houjl@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun-Li
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China. yuliu@nankai.edu.cn and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8723-1896
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu