Photo‐ and Redox‐Regulated Transmembrane Ion Transporters

Abstract

Synthetic supramolecular ion transporters find applications as potential therapeutics and as tools for engineering functional membranes. Stimuli‐responsive systems enable external control over transport, which is necessary for targeted activation. The Minireview provides an overview of current approaches to developing stimuli‐responsive ion transport systems, including channels and mobile carriers, that can be controlled using photo or redox inputs.

Artificial transmembrane potassium transporters: designs, functions, mechanisms and applications

“…While many excellent reviews on artificial membrane transporters have been published over the past ten years, 14,18–32 a comprehensive review that focuses on only artificially created potassium transporters is still lacking. 13,14 This review therefore aims to provide a thorough overview of the research progress in terms of design strategy and transport properties as well as medicinally relevant applications of APTs reported mostly over the past ten years.…”

Molecular Machines For The Control Of Transmembrane Transport

“…In nature, ion transport is mediated primarily by transmembrane protein channels or sophisticated biomolecular machine ion pumps and, to a lesser extent, by mobile carrier (also referred to as ionophores). A wide range of synthetic ion channels and mobile carriers have emerged, , including those with stimuli-responsive behavior. − Channels provide a pore through which ions may flow down their concentration gradient (Figure .i) while mobile carriers shuttle ions across the membrane, via consecutive binding, translocation, and release steps (Figure .ii). A range of different intermolecular interactions have been employed for the binding of ions to promote transport; we direct the reader to recent reviews on metal-organic-based transporters, , hydrogen bonding systems , and transporters utilizing sigma-hole interactions. , For reviews concerning the methods developed for the study of ion transport, we direct the reader to the following. − …”

Coupling Photoresponsive Transmembrane Ion Transport with Transition Metal Catalysis

“…Artificial anion transporters are now very well established, − and stimuli-responsive systems that enable temporal control over activity are emerging. , Cation transporters have received comparably less interest in recent years, with focus primarily on alkali metal cations, and only a handful of ionophores for copper and zinc ions have been reported. − Recently, Matile and co-workers reported a combined transport–catalysis system in which pnictogen-bonding anion transporters were used as Lewis acidic catalysts promoting the formation of oligoepoxide sodium transporters within lipid membranes . However, to the best of our knowledge, combining synthetic cation transporters with transition metal catalysis is unprecedented.…”