Photocontrol of ion permeation in lipid vesicles with amphiphilic dithienylethenes.

The integration of photochromic dithienylethenes (DTEs) with lipid vesicles as photoresponsive membrane disruptors for ion transport applications has been examined. We have synthesized three amphiphilic DTEs 1-3 that incorporate a terminally charged alkyl chain, and contain methyl or phenylethynyl substituents at the reactive carbons. Our photochromic reactivity studies suggest that the inclusion of a single alkyl chain favors the photoactive antiparallel conformation of DTEs, given the significant improvement in the cyclization quantum yield over previous phenylethynyl derivatives.