Highly Selective Artificial K+ Channels Formed by Pillararene‐Cyclodextrin Hybrid Molecules: Tuning the Cation Selectivity and Generating Membrane Potential.

A class of artificial K+ channels formed by pillararene‐cyclodextrin hybrid molecules have been designed and synthesized. These channels could efficiently insert into the lipid bilayers and displayed high selectivity for K+ over Na+ in fluorescence and electrophysiological experiments. The cation transport selectivity of the artificial channels is tunable by varying the length of the linkers between pillararene and cyclodexrin. The shortest channel (1) showed specific transmembrane transport preference for K+ in all alkali metal ions (selective sequence: K+ > Cs+ > Rb+ > Na+ > Li+), which is rarely observed in the reported artificial K+ channels. The high selectivity for K+ over Na+ of this artificial channels ensure specific transmembrane translocation of K+, which could generate stable membrane potential across lipid bilayers.

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