Design and synthesis of artificial ion channels

The synthesis of a series of functional artifical ion channels is described. Candidate structures are assembled from a modular construction set of subunits consisting of a core crown ether unit for structural organization, multiple macrocyclic tetraester wall units to span a bilayer membrane, and polar head units to impart amphiphilic character. The modular assembly approach allowed the efficient synthesis of a suite of compounds but the inherent properties of the construction set limited the range of synthetically accessible structures.