Shi-Xin Fa, Xu-Dong Wang, Qi-Qiang Wang, Yu-Fei Ao, De-Xian Wang,* Mei-Xiang Wang*

Bio-mimicry of multi-responsive recognition of cell membrane with artificial membranes is challengeable. In this work, we designed azacalix[4]pyridine-based amphiphilic molecules 1 and 2. The self-assembly behaviours of 1 and 2 were investigated in aqueous medium. As demonstrated by DLS, SEM, TEM and LSCM measurements, 1 formed stable vesicles (size 322 nm) in a mixture of THF/water whereas 2 produced giant vesicles with decreased stability (size 928 nm). The vesicles composed of 1, with surface being engineered with the cavities of azacalix[4]pyridines, showed selective responses to a variety of guests including zinc ion, hydroquinone and proton as monitored by DLS.

This work has been published in ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 10378-10382.