Phosphonium boranes for the selective transport of fluoride anions across artificial phospholipid membranes.

Phosphonium boranes for the selective transport of fluoride anions across artificial phospholipid membranes. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jan 16;: Authors: Gabbai FP Abstract With the view of developing selective transmembrane anion transporters, we have evaluated a series of phosphonium boranes of general formula [p-RPh2P(C6H4)BMes2]+ whose structure differs by the nature of the R group appended to the phosphorus atom.  Our results demonstrate that variation of this R group informs the lipophilicity of these compounds, their Lewis acidity as well as their transport activity.  Anion transport experiments in POPC-based large unilamellar vesicles show that these main group cations are highly selective for the fluoride anion which is transported more than 20 times faster than the chloride anion.  Finally, we find that the anion transport properties of these compounds are extremely sensitive to the steric crowding about the boron atom, pointing to the crucial involvement of the group 13 element as the anion binding site. PMID: 31945248 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl Source Type: research